The Demon
by Creen
Summary: A more serious version of the Ocarina of Time, but one I hope still holds true to the spirit of the game... in which Zelda is a cunning leader of rebels, Link is an uncultured child-warrior from a magic forest, Malon the tomboy becomes her own knight in shining armor, and Navi is a useful and valuable ally... and NEVER utters the phrase "Hey, Link!" or "Listen!"
1. Chapter 1 Prelude

A woman staggered through the trees. Her vibrant white hair was stained with clotted blood. Tired violet eyes stared out of a haggard, pinched face. She might have been pretty, but the blood and pain had stripped it from her. A small bundle was clutched to her chest, the only spot of warmth.

Terra felt herself trip on a root, as if in slow motion, turning to shield her child. Dirt, twigs, and rocks stabbed at her arms and ribs, drawing more blood, but she didn't notice amidst her other injuries. She was so tired…

Three shapes watched from the trees as the woman dragged herself deeper into the forest. They wore simple tunics made of woven bark fibers, and scraps of salvaged cloth. Each wore foot wraps made of more woven bark, with grass linings, leaving the toes, heels, and balls of their feet exposed for traction. Carefully selected bark was tied onto their shins, serving as greaves. Their forearms were armored similarly to their feet, covering the back of the hand, and the entire forearm, while leaving the palms and fingers exposed. An ornate bark mask, carved with eye and mouth holes covered their faces. Strips of woven bark flowed from the mask, giving the impression of a mane, or wild hair. Underneath this was a single band of woven bark that actually did hold the mask on their heads.

Braided strips of bark fiber served as belts and straps for their equipment. All carried small bows, with quivers, and the unstrung bows strapped to their backs. Each also bore a small stone knife in a crude belt sheath. Small and large pouches littered their belts.

Two of them carried four-foot spears, and small bark shields. The final member though carried a dirk like a short sword, strapped over one shoulder.

Terra pulled herself forward, and let go, forcing her arm to reach out, grab, and pull, just a little farther. She almost didn't even notice the feet standing in her way until she touched them. The dying woman looked up blearily, and saw three faces from her childhood nightmares. Carved wooden faces with sharp teeth and rolling eyes watched her impassively, two leaned casually on spears, but the middle one had its arms crossed. Kokiri: forest spirits with a penchant for killing trespassers. She clutched the dirty bundle closer, and her baby began to cry. The one without a spear cocked its head, and cautiously stepped closer, kneeling beside the woman.

"Don't- don't eat, my son," the woman begged. The spirit touched its face and lifted, revealing a much different face beneath the fierce mask: a young girl, no older than eleven, despite her strange eyes and green skin. She had a kind face with the haunting beauty of a child. Green tattoos, or warpaint, lined her face, making it… well not intimidating, but certainly memorable. She had green hair, and warm blue eyes… but the woman shivered. Those eyes, set in the face of a child, had seen the slow passage of centuries. A tiny winged woman emerged from the wooden mask's tangle of hair, glowing a faint pink; a Faerie.

The girl spoke softly, her voice like soft spring leaves, "Peace, woman, you have not come bringing harm to our forest, so likewise do we return the favor."

Two more Faeries came into view, from the pair of kokiri guards, an emerald and a golden glow wreathing them, respectively. These two lights danced over her body, and returned, to whisper in the girl's ear. She nodded sadly, "Your wounds are beyond our skill to heal. You do not have long remaining to you. Would you ask a boon of the Kokiri?"

Terra could feel the truth in the girl's words. Already her legs had grown cold and numb.

"Save my, son, forest spirit," Terra whispered, loosening her hold on her baby. The girl gently took up the squalling infant, and expertly crooned to him, softening his innocent anger.

Terra could feel her chest tightening, "His name, is Link. After his father." The pain began to dull, and she felt weightless.

Saria watched the spark of life leave the woman's eyes. The baby, Link, was a spot of warmth against her childish breast. The warrior to her left crouched, and gently closed the woman's eyes.

"Thank you, Mido," Saria whispered, tickling the baby's chin. Big, innocent violet eyes looked up at her, twisting the immortal child's heart around his little finger.

"Joro, go and fetch the Twins," Saria ordered. The second warrior nodded, and darted off into the growing gloom, invisible in the forest. Mido pushed his mask back, revealing a shock of red curls framing a boyish face. His eyes were caught between blue and green.

"Saria, he is too young," Mido whispered, worry in his tone, "He was not found by a Faerie."

"Hush, you worry too much," Saria admonished.

Mido rested his chin on her narrow shoulder, looking at the baby. In a matter of moments, the battle was lost, and Link had ensnared another heart. The faeries giggled quietly as they played with the baby, who kept reaching out to grasp the elusive twinkling lights. Mido's tail wound around Saria's. To kokiri, it was similar to holding hands.

Minutes later, three Kokiri returned, all carrying spears. A liter was fashioned, using two pairs of spears for the poles, and the poor woman's cloak lashed between them. Mido, Joro, and the Twins each grabbed a corner, and followed Saria through the silent woods. They might have had the bodies of children, but together, they easily carried the corpse between them. She would be buried at the roots of the Great Deku tree… and her son would be raised as a Kokiri.


	2. Chapter 2 Forest of the Lost

Link crept forward through the tree, and whistled a 3-note signal. Moments later a 3-note response chirped out. Link pulled his small bow out and set an arrow to the string, ready to pull and fire. The sharp eyed skirmisher watched the rest of his friends move into position. Below them, moblins (muscular monsters that resembled a mixture of pig, bulldog, and man) with rough voices and thick arms murdered trees, using vicious saws to topple the ancient sentries. Mido signaled Link, across the new clearing, and Link nodded back. Out of the dozen moblins, he picked the leader, and loosed his arrow. The twenty inch arrow lodged in the burly monster's neck. He yelped, and everyone else looked up. Then the air was filled by small arrows, and a few porcupine quills.

Link loosed two more arrows, before he quickly moved fifteen feet to the left. Panicked return fire from the moblins hit empty branches. The minute kokiri were good at evasion… and this forest was _theirs_.

Link passed a skull kid, who was scampering along, pausing to slip another porcupine quill into his bone flute.

Skull kids were identical to kokiri… except a faerie had not found them in time to save them from the Lost Woods. Twisted, and warped by the dark magic there, they no longer resembled children, except in size. Their skin had turned as black as night, and their eyes glowed like hot coals. Their teeth were razor sharp, and their ears had been reduced to holes in their heads. Their fingernails were long and wickedly curved, like a cat's. They dressed in layers of woven leaves and creepers, yet their clothing still had a look of art to it. Each carried a flute, usually carved from a femur bone, and were excellent musicians… however, those same flutes could double as blow guns, when porcupine quills were used. Skull kids were just as immortal as kokiri, and both groups freely embraced the other, hardly seeing a distinction between themselves.

A heavy moblin arrow hit the branch above Link's head, but he ignored it. A miss was as good as a mile. Link snapped off another shot on the run, using his prehensile tail for balance, hitting the leader again, who roared in anger and pain. The skull kid's smoldering eyes tightened as he grinned, and blew through the flute. The quill lodged in the moblin leader's open mouth, which snapped shut. Mido dropped to the ground in front of a startled Moblin, and buried his four foot spear into its flaccid belly, disappearing back up the tree as quickly as he'd appeared. Link sent another arrow at the back of the wounded moblin's head for good measure.

The moblin survivors broke and fled, crashing through the forest.

That was a mistake.

Kokiri and skull kids nimbly followed from over head, raining arrows and darts down on their enemies, herding them through the woods. Whistles and bird calls echoed through the tree tops as the attackers coordinated and communicated with each other, the alien organization filling the moblins with fear.

The panicked monsters, completely consumed by their animal terror, ran straight into the main ambush. Two dozen Deku scrubs popped up out of the ground, and spat hard seeds the size of a man's eye with bone shattering force. The little creatures looked more like plants than animals, standing awkwardly on two feet, rarely exceeding twenty-seven inches in height, without arms to balance them. Nevertheless, although slow, they made excellent defenders.

A few of the moblins were still moving, but several kokiri helped them along into the next life with their stone knives, crooning the death song as they worked.

Mido stood atop the moblin leader, hands on his hips, and happily surveyed the slaughter, once more proud of his little band. From years of practice, the kokiri and skull kids had already begun efficiently recovering arrows and quills from the dead bodies.

Link passed a handful of bloody quills to Elie, the skull kid beside him, in exchange for the arrows she had found. The moblins were stripped of any useful items, like knives, belts, cloth, food, and metal.

Five minutes later, the site of the slaughter was deadly still; only the stripped bodies of the moblins bore witness to what had transpired, but as soon as the scavengers came around, then even that would vanish.

The triumphant skirmishers returned to the Great Deku tree, to relax and play. The Great Deku tree easily dwarfed the trees he protected, and amid his branches huts and walkways of woven bark, vines, and sticks held his mischievous children. They played their ocarinas next to skull kids who played accompaniment on their flutes, and everywhere immortal children scampered and played.

Saria sat in her hut and watched her people. She was especially interested when Link stole a kiss from one of the skull kids, and darted away. Although physically he looked no different from those around him, he was the only child present who truly was eleven years old. Mido climbed up to Saria, and sat down in the entry with his mate. "Link just made a pass at Tira," Saria commented, and Mido's eyes darted to look, "I thought it'd take him another year to try that."

"Apparently not," Saria observed pointing. Tira had chased the boy down, catching him by the tail, and was busy stealing back her kiss with compounded interest. Mido's eyebrows rose: one had to be careful, skull kids _did_ have sharp teeth. Not bad for an eleven year old. His eyes suddenly got a crafty glint in them, "You know, Saria…" he started…

"Mido, no," Saria refused, nervously, then shrieked when Mido tickled her. She scampered away, and Mido gave chase. That's how the game was played, and only ended when the quarry was properly… subdued.

"**Great Deku Tree, I come before thee, a humble man!"** boomed a voice that startled the kokiri to a halt. Swiftly weapons appeared in hand, and they scrambled into the lower boughs, to take aim at the potential threat to their sovereign. Why hadn't the sentries spotted the intruder?

"Humble? Nay, for soothe thou art a shiftless rogue, with dreams of darkest conquest burning within thine black heart," the Great Lord of the forest responded slowly, gazing at the intruder. Link stared down his arrow at the man, who had olive skin, vibrant red hair, and wore black armor, studded with precious orange gems. He carried only a strange dagger at his hip. The man's scarlet cape billowed in a non-existent wind, and Link's hackles rose. He was too young to know what he sensed, but Saria and Mido could taste the evil radiating off the man, like oil slicked water, that coated their tongues. This was true Darkness.

"**I see no reason to harm such a mighty creature as yourself, Great Deku Tree, I will leave peacefully, if you give me the Heart of the Forest,"** the evil man bargained. Arrows were drawn back on the string, and lips pursed, ready to blow on bone flutes. Even with two dozen weapons aimed at him, the man showed no fear.

"I shall never suffer you to touch the Kokiri Emerald. Leave my forest, and take your evil with you," the Great Deku Tree growled, his branches trembling with anger.

"**As you will,"** the man sneered, and a purple ball of sickly energy shot from the man's palm, slamming into the Great Deku Tree, who roared in agony. Arrows and quills hissed at the man, whose other hand rose, and the missiles deflected harmlessly from a dome of energy, which glowed with more of the sick purple magic, black tendrils of evil writhing across its surface. The man turned on his heel and walked away, laughing. The horrible sound slithered over the kokiri's skin like a slimy hand.

Mido glanced over to see Saria curled in a fetal ball, sobbing with pain. He snapped out orders, "Link, take the Twins and the skull kids! Circle to the left, get in front of him. The rest of you, come with me, we'll chase the bastard right into Link's group!" The disorganized kokiri quickly rallied to sally forth, and kill the dark man.

"Belay that, my children!" the Great Deku tree groaned, and the kokiri grew still, "None of you may stand against that man and live."

"But, Great Deku tree, he has attacked you!" Mido protested angrily.

"Your lives are worth more to me than my pride, my child," The Great Deku tree admonished gently. Mido lowered his head in difference, and impotent anger.

"Stand vigil for me, tonight, my children," the Great Deku tree asked sadly, and then grew quiet.

Saria still writhed in agony, her mind enflamed by the evil that had transpired near her. Mido gently bundled her into his arms, and carried her to their shelter, arranging her in their bed, and sang to her softly, throughout the night. She fell asleep a few hours before dawn. Their faeries worriedly tried to comfort her.

Link woke at roughly the same time Saria fell asleep, and he quickly strapped on his equipment, testing the balance of the Moblin dagger he had taken during the last raid. It was a heavy, crude weapon, but held a long, sharp edge (albeit serrated), and in his hand served well as a short sword. He finally sheathed his new acquisition over his left shoulder, and waxed the string of his bow. He was silent, as only Kokiri are, and all around him he felt the presence of his friends… but he still felt the aching emptiness, which had no name.

A tiny blue woman watched from his shoulder. Navi the faerie had been with him as long as he could remember, a comforting light in the darkness. They served as guides, and protectors.

The boy hid this pain deep inside, where others would never see it. His lips still tingled though from the mild venom in Tira's kiss, sending unfamiliar ripples and tingles through his body.

Link prepared, in case the Wise Deku tree changed his mind, and sent a party to find and kill the dark man. Would a careful arrow from ambush do what fifty brazen arrows could not?

At dawn, the Great Deku tree stirred, and then spoke, waking his children.

"Kokiri… I have been cursed." Roused, the forest children slipped from their nests, and assembled before the Great Tree, worried by his graying pallor. His eyes were heavily lidded, and his lips trembled slightly.

"A curse runs rampant within me, killing me slowly…" the kokiri gasped, and fearful whispers broke out among them.

"All is not lost, though… Link. Step forward," the great tree gasped.

Link numbly stepped forward, feeling the gaze of all his friends.

"Brave child, woudst thou venture forth, and destroy the curse that lies within my roots?"

Link gulped, "Yes, Great Deku tree. I swear it."

"Then enter, brave Link, and thou too, Navi." The Great Deku tree's mouth opened wider and wider… until His lip touched the ground. Hesitantly, Link stepped forward… and entered the dark, dark hole. Link tried to keep his breathing steady as he moved through the cramped tunnel, moisture dripping down the walls. He'd been eaten.

He felt his fears ease as Navi whispered soft words into his ear, her blue glow brightening, lighting up the dark. The wet walls threw her light even farther, creating a glistening arch of light. Her presence cemented his courage. He was a kokiri. No matter what happened, nothing could change that, not even death. Navi held onto Link's ear as he walked, steadying herself against his gait. Something chittered in the darkness ahead, out of Navi's light. Link lowered his spear, pointing it down the tunnel. Behind his fierce mask, the boy's eyes were wide, but his weapon did not tremble. He was a kokiri. He did not know death, he did not know fear: he knew only his love for the forest. The oath rolled through his head as he placed one foot in front of the other, carefully, feeling the slippery wood beneath his feet. Ahead, the reflected glow from Navi changed, and Link saw wispy white strands coating the inside of the tunnel. He touched one, tentatively with his foot. It was slightly sticky, and clung to his toes, but he had no trouble lifting his foot back up. The chittering ceased. Link stared into the milky darkness, and slowly pulled his shield out, slipping it onto his arm.

Something was here, and it should not be. Link felt cold anger threatening to replace his fear. The kokiri advanced through the tunnel, the tacky feel of the threads making his skin crawl. He came into the main chamber of the Deku tree, a long tube that fed up into the crown of the mighty tree. It was fairly cramped, but he could not see the source of the noises.

Navi flitted off his shoulder, inspecting the room. Her glow waivered among the webs, and then she darted back to his shoulder, "There are giant spiders in the Deku Tree!" she exclaimed, outraged. "How close to them can you fly?" Link asked, setting his spear aside as he strung his short bow. "Close enough." She whispered.

Link selected an arrow, and glanced at Navi. She flew half way up the room, and Link sighted up on the glowing orb, then released his arrow. Navi darted aside, and the arrow hit something with a crunch. Navi flew to a new position, and Link again fired, killing something in the distance. Navi flew to six more locations, one near the very top of the deku tree, and Link had to fire three times before finally hitting the target at such an extreme range. Navi flew back down to Link, "That's all of them," she said.

Link edged farther into the room, and looked down. The taproot should be right about… there. Beneath his feet, the floor gave slightly, and he gently bounced up and down, but the webbing didn't give. Link unstrung his bow, and replaced it with his moblin blade. The serrated edge made short work of the tough fibers, although the webbing kept trying to pull the blade from Link's hand. He cut a triangle, large enough for him to pass through. "Navi, scout please," Link whispered. The faerie popped down through the hole, and returned several long seconds later. "The root is lined with webs, and there are more spiders."

Link slipped the moblin blade back into its sheath, and slung his shield over his back, picking up the spear. "Any weak points?" he asked, poised at the hole. "Their armor is weak around their heads, Navi observed, "But with enough force, it doesn't matter where you hit them."

Link nodded, and slipped into the dark hole, his free hand holding a tangle of threads. He hooked his toes in as well, and began to climb down, Navi flying below him, his head cocked down, and the spear point near his toes. Down, down, down, down…

Then he encountered his first spider. Navi called a warning, and Link spotted the scuttling monster. It was as big around as his own head, swollen body impossibly large, which meant it was magical. Its abdomen had a wicked skull design on it, but Link was more concerned with its fangs, which were as long as his thumb. Each leg was roughly eighteen inches long… and they were _fast_. Link took aim with his spear, and when it came in range, he jabbed, neatly skewering it, the spear passing through its head and out the end of its abdomen. The demented monster kept pulling itself down the spear, so Link pulled it off the wall, letting it writhe on the end of his spear. Finally, after several seconds, it grew still, and its legs curled in towards its body. Link flicked it off his spear, and resumed his descent.

Two more spiders ambushed him, one he dealt with easily, but the second was sneakier, burrowing into the webs until he passed…

Navi called out a warning, and Link looked up, coming face to face with another spider. So close, he could see the venom dripping wetly from its fangs. Then the frozen moment shattered, and it jumped onto his face. Link let go of the spear, forced to grab the wall with both hands lest the weight of the spider overbalance him. He wrapped his tail around the hilt of his stone knife, plucking it off the back of his belt. The frustrated spider tried to pierce the wooden mask, but Link headbutted the wall, squishing the spider against it. The monster hung on, not quite dead, but leaking juices. Link rammed his face against the wall again, and then pinned the monster to the wall with his knife, blood hammering in his ears. Link flicked the still wriggling spider off his knife, down the hole, hearing a splash several seconds later.

"Link, are you alright?" Navi asked, worried. The boy quickly wiped his gory knife off on the webbing, and slipped it back into his belt. He had a headache.

"I'm fine," Link answered, making quicker progress now that he was using both hands. Twenty feet later the tap root emptied into a large stone cavern. Link found his wooden spear floating on the surface of the water. Link stared at the black water. Fear coursing through him. He couldn't _swim_. Kokiri lived in the trees, they weren't _fish_. Link stretched his tail out, and snagged his spear, fetching it to his hand. He probed the depth of the water, and was reassured when he found that it only lapped half-way up his spear. Link reluctantly eased into the cold, murky water, pushing the bobbing spider corpses away from him. The water rose to his waist, chilling him. Link waded forward, spear raised, the butte extended past his shoulder, ready for a down thrust at the slightest provocation. Link felt the floor begin to roughen under his toes. He gritted his teeth as more chittering came to him in the darkness, and the tunnel opened up into an echoing cavern. Navi brightened as much as she could, her feeble glow falling woefully short of filling the room. Link continued farther into the cavern, and the floor beneath his feet rose gently, until he stepped out onto a gently sloped island of rock. Link shivered in the air as water dripped from his tunic. Something _large_ rumbled in the darkness, and Link took his spear in both hands, tail twitching nervously.

Dozens of spiders fell from the ceiling on silken ropes, popping into Navi's bubble of light. Link danced to the side, stomping on the bloated bodies. Some jumped at Link, but he batted them aside with his spear butte. In the frantic scramble, Link realized that spiders had an inherent weakness, only compounded by increasing their size: They could only bite things directly under them, so unless they could jump onto Link, the worst they could do would be to bite his feet… but since he was busy using them to step on the ugly bugs as quickly as possible, that wasn't much of a concern. Thick, viscous fluids clung to Link's feet as he stomped, swatted, and stabbed. More spiders dropped down, one of them even landing on his shoulder before Link smacked it off with his tail, hammering his spear down to crush it for its trouble.

Link crushed the last of the moving spiders beneath his heel, and panted, surveying the carpet of broken bodies. His limbs trembled with adrenaline.

The perceptive kokiri felt faint vibrations through his feet, and looked around, wary. There was a colossal splash behind him, and he spun, backing up towards the center of the island. Something large forced its way through the water, towards shore.

Link bared his teeth, and stood behind his spear, ready. Whatever came, he would not falter. It had attacked his Father, and he would kill it, slowly, or quickly, so long as it died. Movement at the edge of Navi's glow made Link's spear snap up. Navi hovered over Link's head, fists posted on her hips, feet planted wide, daring the monster to come closer. With a rumble, the monster edged into the light.

Link's first impression was its eye. It had a single, giant eye with a strangely slotted pupil. Surrounding that eye, was a large, armored eyelid, which attached to an even larger armored body. Two muscular, segmented legs supported the creature's body between them, ending in large, cruel looking clawed feet. A pair of smaller legs came out the top of its body, ending in deadly looking pincers as large as Link's head, hell, the _eye_ was bigger than his head. Almost overlooked in the darkness, a long fleshy tube trailed behind the crab-like spider-thing, and even as Link watched, another egg slithered down the disgusting tube.

The monster raised its pinchers threateningly, and growled, snapping at the air. Link _did not_ want to let it get a hold on him. Link smiled grimly behind his mask, and darted towards the monster. It snapped at Link, but he dodged the clumsy attack, scampering up one of its legs. A pincer almost snagged him, but he dodged it as well, gaining the creature's back in a short leap. With a primal scream, he rammed his spear into its head, the stone point skittering off the thick armor. Link nimbly ducked and weaved, his tail wrapped around a spur of chitin, helping to anchor him. He kept probing, trying to find a seam in the armor that his spear could pierce. A clawed appendage smashed into Link's back, hurling him off. Link hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop near the water's edge. The _strength_ behind that blow… Navi was screaming in his face to _get up!_ Link staggered to his feet, elbows and knees scraped raw and bloody.

The monster advanced, its red eye staring. Link palmed a deku nut from his wallet, and charged. He hurled the nut at its eye, which snapped shut. The nut hit, and exploded with an ear numbing bang, and a flash of light. Shocked, the eye opened, just in time for Link to bury his spear up to his hands.

It screamed, and pincers snapped wildly through the air. Link danced back, letting go of his spear, and swiftly strung his bow. Link fired at the creature as rapidly as he could, arrows skittering off its armor, he constantly moved his aim, looking for a weak spot. A few arrows did lodge in the joints of its legs, but that hardly seemed to slow it down. Link shifted his aim to the eye, filling it with arrows as he nimbly ducked away from the enraged monster's blows. Quiver empty, Link looped his strung bow across his back, and drew the moblin blade, its serrated edge gleaming in Navi's light. The monster was, for all intents and purposes, blind, and enraged beyond all sense. Link carefully maneuvered around behind it, and snuck closer, severing the egg tube at its base, right against the shell. The monster reared up in agony, and Link stabbed the sword up into the unarmored hole. Greenish blood and tissue spilled out, splattering on Link, but he couldn't reach deep enough into the beast, which was wildly shaking and roaring, stomping around the room. Link let go, and dropped, navigating the maze of stomping legs, until her could see the eye again. The haft of his spear still protruded, amidst the thicket of arrows. Link nimbly leapt forward, planted his feet on the eye as he grabbed the spear, and _jumped_. The spear came free with a sickening lurch, and Link landed from his back flip. The gore slicked weapon was treacherous in his hands, but he hastily wiped the shaft on his foot wraps, before he wove around the monster. Link cocked his arm back, hopping forward to stab the weapon deep into the gap from the severed tube in the monster's armor. He must have hit something critical, because its legs suddenly lost all their strength, and the collapsing monster almost crushed Link.

The kokiri eyed the weakly moving monster, and caught his breath in great gulps of air. Slowly, he edged closer, stepping up onto its back. The pincered legs weakly tried to rise, but Link sawed at them with his serrated blade. The moblin steel was harder than the chitinous armor, and after several seconds, Link felt the teeth bite in and start cutting. The monster roared piteously as Link disarmed it (literally), before he stepped onto its head. The blind eye stared up at Link, who reversed the moblin blade into a two-handed ice-pick grip. He raised it over his head, staring down at his target and screamed once more, throwing himself down onto his knees, burying his blade into its head. The monster shuddered, as Link twisted and yanked on the blade's handle. With a final little groan, it went still, and its eye dimmed. Link pushed his mask up from his sweaty face, and breathed the cool air.

"Is it dead?" Navi asked cautiously. Link shrugged. He'd just kicked its armored monster _ass_. Beneath him the body shivered, and he jumped free, drawing his stone dagger, heart pounding anew as he stared at the monster. The body suddenly exploded with cold blue flames and began to dissolve into black dust. Link jerked when the gore on his clothes followed suit, but he quickly calmed when he realized that nothing was burning. His sword and spear clanged to the floor, followed by the clatter of arrows. Nearby, the crushed bodies of the skulltullas also burned with blue fire and began to disappear. "The curse is breaking," Navi whispered in Link's ear.

Painfully, Link gathered his equipment, unstrung his bow, and secured it to his quiver. He turned to leave when his foot brushed something _warm_. Link looked down, and picked up a glowing stone, in the crude shape of a heart. A rainbow burned within, beautiful swirls of colors blending and fracturing before his eyes.

"Navi… what is this?" Link asked. Navi landed on his hand and stared at the rock. She scratched her head, flipping a tress of blue hair over her shoulder. "Um… I'm not sure… but I think it's what powered the curse…" she admitted. The colors began to flash faster, and Navi yelped, darting behind Link's shoulder. Curious, Link held it up and stared at the swirls. With a flash, it imploded, and Link felt a surge of energy shoot through him. His scrapes and aches simply… disappeared. He looked at his knees. Blood still clung to them, but he brushed it off, exposing unmarked skin. He felt a little stronger too.

"Lets get out of here, Link," Navi suggested. Link followed the ball of light through the water, and into the tap root. All of the webs were gone. Link was stymied for a moment, before he strapped his spear to his quiver, and examined the rough walls of the root. His fingers found purchase, and within moments he was out of the water, wet feet posing a risk as he climbed, twice slipping out from under him, if not for his tail to help arrest his fall. He kept climbing, looking up at the slowly approaching hole. His callused fingers trembled, but he kept climbing. Finally his hands found the lip of the hole, and he hung for several seconds, before forcing himself up and over the lip, rolling away from the hole.

Link stared up into the darkness of the Great Deku tree, and rested, tired in both body and mind, his recent rush of energy spent. Navi sat quietly on his chest, combing her hair with her fingers. "Are you alright, Link?" she asked, worried.

"I'm okay," Link answered, trying to summon the will to get up. He just didn't feel like it. A few minutes later he stood, and his leaden arms and legs only shook slightly. Link walked out of the Deku tree, leaning on his spear. The kokiri and skull kids burst into cheers, swarming around him, grabbing and hugging.

From behind him, the Great Deku tree spoke, "Well done, Link. Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage… I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes…

Now, I have yet more to tell ye, wouldst thou listen…"

The halting speech of the Deku tree instantly drew the attention of the kokiri, who were worried by the pain in his voice.

"Now… listen carefully…That wicked man was of the desert… he has ceaselessly used his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the sacred realm that is connected to Hyrule…"

The kokiri listened raptly to the deku tree, their eyes wide behind their masks.

He was silent for several long seconds, before he found the strength to continue speaking,

"For it is in the sacred realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods…

Thou must never allow the desert man, in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce… Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend… That evil man who cast the death curse upon me, and sapped my power… Because of that curse, my end is nigh… though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started…"

"But, Great Deku Tree, you can't die!" Mido argued, bitter tears of disbelief rising in his eyes. Other kokiri also threw out stubborn denials.

The Deku tree seemed to smile slightly,

"Yes, I will pass away soon… but do not grieve for me… I have been able to tell you of these important matters… This is Hyrule's final hope…"

Silent tears coursed down immortal cheeks, from eyes that had never truly cried before.

The Great Deku tree gasped, and continued, fighting to speak,

"Link… go now to Hyrule castle… There, thou will surely meet the princess of destiny.

Take my heart with you. The stone that man wanted so much, that he cast the curse on me…

The future depends upon thee, Link. Thou art courageous… Navi the fairy, help Link to carry out my will…

I entreat ye… Navi… good… bye… my… child…ren….."

The mighty tree grew silent, and his features slackened. From his forehead, something glittery fell, bouncing to a stop at Link's feet. Link picked up the emerald, a coil of gold wound around it, like a branch. It fit easily in Link's hand, and pulsed with warmth.

The journey to the edge of the forest was somber, but with the Great Deku Tree dead, there was little time to waste. Link stepped to the edge of the forest, looking out at a sweeping open expanse of grass and gentle hills. It looked… dead. The sky seemed to press down upon the plains oppressively, with no trees to oppose it. Saria felt a tear slip past her iron control. She pulled the ocarina necklace she had made, carved from the hard husk of a deku nut, over her head, and handed it to Link, "Here, take my ocarina, Link,"

Link slipped it over his head and held it in his hand, his vision swimming as he too, felt tears prick at him. Mido stood miserably nearby. Link had been the closest that any kokiri could come to have children. Eleven years had passed far too quickly.

Saria broke, and wrapped Link in her arms, remembering when he was so much smaller. "Stay safe, fight well, and never, ever falter. No matter where you go, our love will follow you," she sobbed.

Mido came forward, and Saria reluctantly released Link. Mido took Link's hand firmly, "Remember, you're vulnerable when you sleep, so travel during the night, and sleep during the day. Don't let the outsiders see you. The forest will not be able to protect you out there."

Link embraced his "father" tightly, "I will. You will be proud of me, I swear it," he promised earnestly.

Mido let go, and stepped back to Saria, "Link, we are already proud," Saria answered softly. Mido raised his chin in challenge, "Now go on, and save the world,"

Link turned, and forced his way out onto the plains, as if he were stepping through a barrier. He never heard them whisper:

"Goodbye… son."

The two shapes disappeared into the forest. The great deku tree was dead… but they were still guardians of the forest… and intruders would still face the wrath of the kokiri.


	3. Chapter 3 First Meetings

Link made good time, he assumed, and considered finding a place to sleep… but there were no branches to offer succor to him. Night began to fall, and a nagging thought was bothering the Kokiri. The last ray of light disappeared, and the ground began to churn and crack.

Link scrambled over the broken ground, dodging the emerging monsters. Dark spirits, inhabiting the bones of the dead, rose. _Stalkids_. Sometimes they ventured into the forest, but rarely very deep. Their weakest point was the joints, since they were held together by strength of will. Disrupting the joints would weaken, and eventually dispel, the spirit.

Link was easily faster than the shambling constructs, even at a steady jog. The danger, however, lay in one of them erupting at his feet. Navi hid under the mane attached to Link's mask, hiding her glow in the darkness. He could see well enough without her, using the moon and the stars to see by. It was the daylight vigil that Navi became indispensable, watching for danger while he slept, hidden in the grass.

Link dug up the coarse tubers with his knife, careful not to damage them with the sharp stone. He brushed the dirt off with his fingers, and tucked them into the forage bag on his belt, which was distressingly light.

Kokiri were passive foragers, not given to amassing and storing food for more than a day… but they were relatively sedentary, near water and ready sources of food. Link was making this up as he went along, learning the hard way to gather all that he could before moving on. His first night had been miserable. He'd eaten his fill from a mess of berries, then moved on, not bothering to take any with him. He hadn't seen any additional sources of food the rest of the night.

Link looked up and gauged the sun. The bottom of the orb was now touching the horizon. He had about forty minutes before it set, and the stalkids would start to rise.

Navi was sleeping in Link's hair.

The kokiri started to crest yet another gentle hill, passing a distinctive boulder, a rarity on this plain, when he caught a flash of copper in the distance. Instantly, he melted against the boulder, his ragged outline slightly camouflaging him. He peered intently, making out a small form walking in the distance, its back to him. Curious, he slowly closed the distance, moving with his head just inches above the waist-high grass. He crept within a spear's throw, and studied the outsider. She had shoulder length orange hair, like Mido's, but straight, not curly. The outsider's hair swept wildly in the wind. Her dress was ill-suited to walking in this grass, and she carried a sack over her shoulder. She was roughly his age, and he felt a pang of loneliness. It had been nine days since he'd seen Saria and Mido. Kokiri were highly social, and such loneliness was… terrifying. The girl was heading where he needed to go, anyway, towards the Castle, which could barely be seen as a _very_ tiny speck in the distance, still twenty miles distant.

So Link gave into temptation, and followed her, pretending that he walked beside her, basking in the imaginary companionship. He had promised to not be seen, and he wouldn't be, even if she was only a child.

Malon was scared. She clutched the bag that held her food tighter. The sun had almost set, and she had not reached Castle Town yet. Her plan to run away had flaws that were just now becoming very obvious to her. The sun had slipped halfway down the horizon, and she soldiered on. She was over half-way there. No sense turning back.

Her resolve faltered when the sun set, and a howl echoed across the plains. She shivered, wishing she had a weapon. A twisted, gnarled tree stood out on the plains, looking to her like a savior. She hurried towards it, lifting her skirt so he could run.

Link watched the girl head for the tree with a sinking heart. If she stayed up there, she would die. Stalkids could climb, slowly, and if one remained in the same place for too long, they would swarm. The girl never made it to the tree.

Malon ran for the refuge, when something grabbed her ankle. She fell in the grass with a shriek. A bony hand held her ankle, as a grinning skull pushed its way out of the soil, followed by the rest of the arm. She kicked frantically at the monster, knocking its skull off to bounce deeper into the grass. The grip on her ankle tightened, and the headless skeleton struggled to crawl out. She screamed, kicking at the hand in earnest as she heard other monsters clawing their way out of the earth.

Something whistled through the air, and hit the monster's elbow with a loud bang, then another bang rang out, and the skeleton was knocked onto its back, still up to its knees in dirt. She looked up and saw a fiercely scowling warrior with wild hair frantically bludgeoning the monster with a spear. The monster stopped moving, its bones scattered across a fifteen foot circle. Malon backed away, and the warrior lunged at her, swinging his spear at her head. She ducked, and it flashed past, slamming into another monster behind her, knocking it off its feet. Rough hands pulled her to her feet, then gave her a push to get going. Terrified, the girl lifted her skirts and ran. Beside her the wild warrior kept pace, and now that she was standing, she realized he wasn't much taller than she was. His long, braided hair streamed behind him as he ran, slightly ahead of her.

Malon began to gasp for breath, unable to keep up with the warrior, who was slowly pulling ahead. She pumped her arms and legs, but even her terror could not keep her moving forever. The warrior slowed to a jog, pulling Malon along. When he delivered a two handed smack to something in the grass with his spear, Malon realized she wasn't holding a hand, in her terror. She looked down. A greenish tail was wrapped about her wrist, about as wide as two of her fingers, thinning to the size of a single finger at the tip. What was he?

Link hid his worry. The outsider girl was slow, and breathing hard. The sun had not even been down for an hour. He slowed his pace further, matching her stumbling walk. Stalkids continued to rise around them, but he delivered decapitations of opportunity, knocking off skulls when he could, to slow down the monsters. Finally the girl tripped and fell. Link pulled her back up, but she tripped again a few seconds later. Link threw one of her arms over his shoulder, and grabbed her waist, dragging her along.

Malon gasped for air as she struggled to place one foot in front of the other. The warrior was practically carrying her, so that her feet only sporadically touched the ground. He smelled nice though. So close to him, she caught another solid whiff of his scent, a mixture of sweet sweat, fresh berries, and leaves right after it rains.

Echoing across the plains, Malon heard a voice she recognized. Her father.

"Here!" she screamed back as loud as she could. The warrior almost dropped her.

A counter cry came back to Malon, and she screamed again, losing volume.

Navi woke up, and darted out from Link's hair, spilling blue motes of light. Link sighed. He had broken his word. He had been seen. Outsiders were coming, and he was growing tired. He had been working too hard to keep the outsider child alive. He snarled, and turned towards the sound of the calls, veering off his course. He would make sure she was close enough to be rescued, before he tried to slip away. Outsiders could not be trusted. The girl tripped, and his tired arm slipped, caught by surprise. The girl landed in the dirt, and Link looked around, realizing how much trouble they were in. Nearly two dozen skulkids were free of the soil, and tottering towards them. Link could escape, but the girl would die. "Navi, glow as bright as you can," Link called, trying to be heard over the monsters' growls and howls. Navi shot up twelve feet and became a small star, lighting up the prairie around her.

Malon gasped as light cascaded down onto her. She looked up to see a bobbing light above them. Now, fully illuminated, she looked at the warrior. His clothing was rough, and obviously fashioned from materials found in the forest. He had pieces of bark on his shins and forearms, resembling armor. A carved wooden mask with staring eyes and snarling teeth hid the warrior's face. Long strands of cloth flowed off the mask, covering the rest of the head in a wild mane. Pouches and weapons were strapped to the warrior, and a tail, half again as long as his arm whipped behind him, much like an angry cat's.

Then he moved, swinging his sturdy spear in an overhand strike, knocking a monster down, and beating it senseless, kicking at the bones to scatter them. All around them, monsters came closer, and Malon cowered. The warrior darted all around her, knocking down monsters, but more kept digging their way out of the earth. She winced when a monster's blow connected, staggering the warrior, allowing a second blow to strike before he recovered his balance and punished his attackers. Slowly, the balance was shifting as the monsters came closer. More blows began to connect, and the warrior began to slow. The light suddenly dimmed, and darted into the warrior's hair.

Over the din of wood hitting bone, the pounding thunder of hooves was lost. Malon screamed when a stalkid's blow landed on the back of the warrior's head, and he slumped, boneless, to the ground. Malon grabbed him, and pulled, trying to get him away from the closest ring of stalkids.

"I've got her!" a voice roared, and a horse barreled through the monsters, a big, heavily bearded man, given somewhat to fat, was mounted atop the beast. One of his huge hands reached out, grabbing up both Malon and the warrior. He clutched them both under his arm and veered his horse away from the battle, in a large circle, heading back the way he had come.

Talon and his ranch hands barreled into the ranch, and the heavy doors closed behind them, a thick locking bar slotted into place. Talon dismounted, "Let's get a light over here!" he called. Some men with torches hurried over, and Talon looked his daughter over, ignoring her protests that she was "fine."

There was a startled curse behind them, and Talon spun. The ranchhand dropped the small body he carried like it was on fire, backing away in terror. "Good god, man, what's wrong with you?" Talon demanded, stomping over to check, but he too froze when he saw what lay in the torchlight. They'd taken a viper into the fold.

Talon looked at the forest spirit, confused and disturbed. The men on his left were whispering about omens, and other nonsense, but Talon had never heard of a forest spirit leaving said forest. He hadn't thought that they could.

Malon tried to push past her father, to look at the warrior, but a colossal hand stopped her, "Hold on there, Malon."

The girl tried to shove her father's hand away, remembering why she'd run away in the first place. "Stop, daddy, I want to look!" she protested.

"You can see the Kokiri just fine from here," Talon snapped, fear harshening his voice.

Malon looked at the bed-time story lying in the dirt. Unconscious, he seemed… diminished, somehow. A blue glow flickered from his mask, sporadically. The men backed up, wary of the demon's power. Malon suddenly slipped past her father, who tried to grab her but missed. She darted to the kokiri, and touched the wooden mask.

Talon licked his lips, "Malon, sweetie, stand up slowly, and come back over here…" he begged in a reasonable tone… but Malon was curious. What do kokiri look like?

She slipped her fingers under the mask's chin, and gently lifted. The men were silent. Their curiosity was greater than their fear, and they came closer, _slightly._

The demon's hand darted up, grabbing Malon's wrist. With a growl, he staggered to his feet. He was nearly half the mass of the adults, but they shrank back, blue light glowing from the mask's eyes. The demon snarled, and there was an explosion of light and noise, blinding the men. When their watering eyes cleared, the demon had vanished.

Link scrabbled, pulling himself up into the stable's hay loft, he could still hear the curses of blind men. The tired kokiri crawled through the hay, and burrowed underneath it in the farthest corner from the opening. Navi curled up in the hair by his ear. "Thank you Navi,"

Link whispered. Navi smiled softly to herself. She'd healed Link just enough to get him conscious, without killing herself in the process. She prided herself on hiding beneath the mask and glowing. Link hadn't been able to see very well, but it did keep the outsiders back. Nothing like a little show of magic to keep the superstitious in awe. Link felt like one giant bruise.

Talon glared at his daughter, "See what happens when you run off, head in the clouds?!" he demanded, "You almost got yourself eaten by a demon. You're the only one I know who could get kidnapped by a forest demon, and not be within twenty miles of any forests!" Malon crossed her arms, "That kokiri _saved_ me, dad."

"Saved you for a snack more like!" Talon roared back.

"He could have killed me a few minutes ago," Malon pointed out, "When everyone couldn't see or hear,"

"No, that's when he jumped back to the forest, silly girl of mine, can't be in two places at once," Talon rebuked. Malon walked towards the farmhouse, "Where you going girl!" Talon demanded. "To my room. That's where you're going to send me anyway," she replied sullenly. "Yeah, go to your room." Talon seethed, and stalked off, to look for something to punch.

Link stretched under the hay, his muscles stiff. His stomach rumbled, and he pulled the tubers from his forage pouch, chewing on the fibrous sustenance. Once that handful was gone, his stomach grumbled for more. Link silently crawled to the edge of the hay loft, and looked down. He recognized some of the animals as horses. Woodsmen had come once, with axes. They cut down some of the trees, and tied the logs to the _horses_, to drag away. It had been almost too easy to drive them off with only two volleys of arrows.

There were black and white animals too, that Link had never seen before. They looked like _fat_ horses. Most had a pink fleshy sack hanging from their bellies, near the rear legs, with tubes sticking out of the sack. They didn't look dangerous, or even very smart. Navi continued to sleep, secure in the cocoon she had woven around herself in Link's hair. Link slipped out of the loft and settled down beside one of the horses. The animal paused a moment to sniff him, but after a few words, the horse recognized him as a friend, and ignored him. Link started to move towards the stable door when he saw the latch wiggle. Swiftly, he darted into a stall, and disappeared under the hay.

"I know how to milk the cows, _Jerrol_," an annoyed feminine voice complained. Link heard a deep chuckle, "Yes you do, missy, but seeing how the last time you were here you ran away, your pop's a little leery of leaving you here without someone standing outside the door."

Link heard wood scraping across a wooden floor, and other, angry, noises of someone making unnecessary noise to vent their frustration. It was silent for several minutes, except for a strange hissing/trickling noise. Then someone began to hum, and Link listened more intently. The song was simple, but in a good way, like the simple love of a mother for her child. Link peeked out of the hay, and saw familiar shoes on the other side of an unknown dumb animal. She couldn't see him, and Link peeked at the door. The male voice must be standing outside. Link crept along the stable, until he could see what the outsider girl was doing. She was squeezing the tubes, and a stream of white liquid was being squirted into a wooden pail. Link could smell it from where he stood. His stomach rumbled again, and he darted into hiding, in case the girl heard it. She finished her bucket, and stood, placing it by the door, then fetched another pail. Link crept to the bucket and dipped two fingers in, cautiously tasting the fluid on his fingers.

He heard a small gasp of breath behind him.

Malon stared at the hunched figure by the milk pail. Straw clung to his clothing, and a small breath slipped out. The masked face snapped up, finding her staring eyes. He was between her and the door. Milk dripped from his fingers, forgotten. The demon looked nervously between her and the door, as if torn. A gurgle pierced the air. Someone's stomach had rumbled, and she'd already eaten.

Slowly, Malon reached behind her, finding the milking stool. She sat down, and watched the demon. The latch behind the demon rattled, and in a flurry of motion, he disappeared into the pile of straw by the door. Jerrol's burly shape came through the door, grabbing the pail, and handing it off to someone else out of sight. "Better get back to work, little lady," the big man quipped, turning to leave, "Jerrol, wait!" Malon called impulsively. The man froze, surprised, "Yes?" he asked.

Link's fingers slowly touched the hilt of the moblin blade. He would have only a moment to silence the big man, before he would have to flee. _Never trust an outsider._ Link had forgotten. He'd hoped, maybe, that saving her life hadn't been a mistake, but now she was about to expose him.

"I'm still hungry, could you fetch me some rolls, sausage, and fruit?" she asked. Link halted his motion, and paused, listening intently. What were rolls and sausage?

"Oh… alright, little lady. Sure," Jerrol answered, clearly not expecting the question.

"Hey, Grig, can you fetch me another breakfast pail?" the big man called. Someone answered, and the big man yelled thanks.

A few minutes later, Link fought hard to keep from drooling as he smelled something that screamed of food.

Malon thanked Jerrol, and took the pail. The door closed, and she turned to the demon's hiding place. She left the pail a few feet from the hay, and walked back to milk the cows. If she sat just so, she could milk the cows and discretely watch the demon's hiding place. Nothing moved for several minutes, then the demon burst out, falling upon the pail savagely, sorting through the food inside. The mask flipped up, but she couldn't see the demon's face. He tore into the bread, the apple (he ate the entire thing, core and all). The carrots disappeared into a bag on his belt, and the potato joined them. He left the sausage alone.

Link felt his stomach bulge slightly, but in a comfortable way. He had some food in his forage bag, but the entire meal was threatening to come back up. Included with the food had been burnt animal flesh. He was no stranger to killing, but he didn't eat anything that bled. No Kokiri did. They took life to protect the forest, not to feed themselves. He pulled his mask back down, and left the pail where it stood, prowling idly over to where the girl was milking the dumb animals. He sat in one of the stalls nearby, which blocked the sightline of anyone standing at the doors, but still allowed him to watch the girl, keeping an eye on her.

Malon looked over to the left. The demon was still watching her, motionless. "Did you enjoy your meal, forest spirit?" she asked idly, trying to break the disturbing silence. The masked head nodded slowly, never breaking eye contact.

Malon chattered to herself, and the demon, as she slowly milked the entire line of cows. The demon never spoke, but occasionally nodded or shook his head to questions.

She was curious though, aside from growls and snarls, she hadn't heard the demon speak, "Forest spirit… can you… speak?" she asked.

The head nodded slowly.

"_Will_ you speak?" she asked pointedly. The head cocked quizzically, but neither shook nor nodded.

She milked in silence for a while, then asked the question that had been bothering her, "My father says you're dangerous. Are you?" she asked.

The demon nodded.

"Why did you save me, Forest spirit?" Malon asked. The demon fidgeted for several seconds, and finally shrugged. What did that mean? He didn't know, didn't care, or something else?

"You're a long way from the forest. Why did you leave?" she asked. When she looked up to see his answer she jerked. He was gone.

Link painfully crawled along the hay loft, and buried himself in the corner, ignoring the itchy straw. The sun was up. He was going to sleep. Navi kept watch for her ward, and no one entered the hay loft the rest of the day. Now that Link had rested, it was literally child's play to climb the ranch wall and slip away into the night, undetected. His muscles were stiff, but as he walked, they began to loosen back up, resuming their journey.

Navi eyed the fortified town. It was built in the wide canyon between two cliffs. Tall white stone walls formed a half circle between the two cliffs. A river flowed from the east, hitting the base of the east cliff, before it circled around, following the man-made wall, until it hit the other cliff, and disappeared into the ground. The river narrowed to less than twenty feet when it passed the walls, and a single large drawbridge spanned it. The drawbridge had been raised for the night, and torches dotted the battlements. Link was probably going to get wet… She darted back to her kokiri, who was lying motionless seventy meters from the main gate, his grass cloak blending in perfectly. She landed on his shoulder, and quickly whispered what she had seen to him.

"The river's current is swift, but has eaten away at the mortar of the stones, leaving easy gaps and handholds."

Link nodded, and stealthily moved through the grass, heading east, paralleling the river. When he was a hundred meters upstream of his original position, he took his grass cloak off, and curling it into a tight roll. He tied it to his belt. The kokiri backed up twenty feet, and sprinted for the edge. His foot pushed off from the lip of the embankment, and he flew twelve feet through the air, before plunging into the water with a colossal splash. Water shot up his nose, and ears, swirling around his head like thunder as he fought to surface. His wooden shield, armor, and the air in his lungs pulled him up, and he gasped for air. Link thrashed and kicked his way to the other side, and latched onto the stonework, the current trying to pluck him off and drag him away, into the hole where it disappeared into the earth. Stubbornly, he scrambled up the wall, his small fingers and toes easily finding cracks between the stones.

Link rolled over the top of the wall, and onto the battlements. He was only fifteen feet from a man wearing a metal shirt, with a spear and heavy helmet. Link was in the darkness between two pools of light from the torches, so he was momentarily safe from casual detection. Link took a moment to look out over the sprawling walled town. Off in the distance, he saw a huge castle, backlit by the rising moon. Below him, sprawled in slumber, was a confusing maze of buildings.

Link blew on the ocarina, expelling the water from it with a sharp chirp. The sodden kokiri wrung his clothing until it was only damp, and set off through the silent streets. Occasionally a dog would growl, and challenge him, but after sniffing his hand, the mollified animal would return to its self-appointed post, and watch for _real_ intruders.

In one alley, he almost walked into a pair of lovers, so busy devouring each other's lips, that they never noticed the tiny shape that flitted past them in the dark. Link dodged a couple patrols of soldiers along the way, easily. They talked loudly, almost louder than the sounds of their metal shirts. As Link passed a building, he heard a familiar melody. Looking up, he saw a red-headed girl leaning out a window, humming.

Navi looked at the boy, worried. She could smell his loneliness. He'd never been away from other kokiri for so long… but this wouldn't help him,

"Link," she whispered, "You have a mission, remember? This girl is a distraction. She's an outsider, Link. She will grow up, grow old, and die, while you remain just as you are…"

Link lifted his mask, and looked over at Navi. The desperate longing in his eyes shoved a spike deep into her heart. "Please, Navi?" he asked.

The faerie sighed. "Do what you must, but remember what you are, and what she is. We have a mission to finish, the princess is _so_ close!"

Link smiled grimly, and lowered his mask, "I'm going to whistle. Can you light up my mask in a second?" he whispered. Navi crawled under the mask and squeezed into the gap formed between the smooth mask and the bridge of his nose.

Malon hummed softly. Talon hadn't let her out of his sight, but he had taken her to Castle town with him, finally. The delivery was finished, and they were staying in the royal inn, a free perk for delivering their milk to the castle.

From the darkness, someone began harmonizing with her humming, the whistle strangely clean, without ruddy notes. Malon looked down, startled. Blue eyes flashed up at her in the dark before fading. The demon was here. Was he _following her?_ Excited, and nervous at the same time, she glanced over at her father's sleeping form. Swiftly, she pulled on her shoes, and expertly stole the key to the room that her father had hidden in his shirt. Minutes later, she slipped out the front door of the inn, and found the demon waiting for her. He beckoned to her, and silently walked away down the street, leading her somewhere, his wild hair drifting behind him mysteriously. Excitement bubbled in her, adding a spring to her step. She was going on an adventure.

Link walked with the outsider girl beside him, and the bands squeezing his heart loosened. She was practically bouncing.

"Where are we going?" she asked him eagerly. He placed a finger to his wooden lips, a clear request for her to remain silent. She nodded, and they continued to walk through the winding streets. Finally, they emerged from the town, on a sandy path, leading deeper into the canyon. She saw the castle. "Are we going to the castle?!" Malon asked excitedly. The forest spirit nodded quickly, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the canyon wall. He crept along it, and peeked around the corner. The path was blocked by a tall gate, with an alert looking guard manning it.

Link backed up, and saw that thick creeping vines had grown along the cliff back the way they had come, disappearing over the top of the thirty foot high cliff.

Link tapped Malon's shoulder, and pointed to the vine. She nodded, a conspiratorial gleam in her eye.

Malon followed the demon up the vine. He made it look easy, but, then again, he wasn't wearing clunky shoes, and had a tail. The demon paused, motionless, at the top, his head level with the cliff edge, scanning for danger. He scampered over the lip, before reappearing, holding a hand out to her. Malon took it, and the demon lifted her up.

He pulled something out of his belt and unfurled it. The smell of wet grass hit her, and the demon fastened the cloak around his shoulders. He grabbed her hand, and led her along the lip of the cliff, apparently unafraid, or unaware of the height. They stopped at the wall that blocked the path, now at the top, and Malon saw a ladder leading down into the thick wall. She followed the demon, who slid down the ladder. She followed behind, and found him at the bottom, cracking a wooden door slightly, peeking out of the small guard station. Apparently, he liked what he saw, because his tail grabbed Malon's hand and pulled her out, softly closing the door behind them. They continued down the path, hugging the cliff wall. A few guards patrolled here, but the demon helped her evade them easily.

They wove across the castle grounds, avoiding the roving patrols. The demon led her all the way up to the wall of the castle itself. The gate was closed tightly, but the demon circled around, and stopped by a small duct letting water out of the castle. He turned to her, and pointed to a pile of crates by a door making a _hide_ gesture. He jumped up, catching the lip of the duct, and wriggling inside it. She had been hidden behind the crates for only a few minutes before the door cracked open, and a dripping forest spirit waved at her impatiently to hurry up and get inside.

Malon followed meekly, marveling at the tapestries inside the castle, hardly noticing as the demon manhandled her into hiding spots occasionally, staying out of sight. They left the castle and entered a courtyard garden. The demon led her through the beautiful shrubs, and cocked his head, as if listening. His hand was warm, but rough, she noticed. She was about to speak when a third shadow entered the garden, and proceeded to a small window, peering through. The demon tightened his hold on her hand, and stepped forward, walking towards the shadow.

Link walked towards the princess, who was consumed with whatever she was looking at. He stopped, five feet away, and whistled softly, to get her attention.

Malon saw the shadow resolve itself into a girl as the clouds across the moon shifted, lighting up the courtyard. The girl spun, and looked at the demon standing behind her with a gasp. Magic seemed to hover in the moonlight, trapping the moment forever.

"Who? Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" the girl asked, terrified. The demon let go of Malon's hand, stepped forward, and dropped to one knee, head bowed before the princess. A blue light emerged from his hair, and landed on his shoulder, resolving into a blue woman, who also bowed before the princess.

"I am Link, of the Kokiri, and this is Navi, of the Faeries. We have come far, Princess of Destiny."

Malon looked down at the demon. His voice had an odd cadence to it. His pronunciation of the language was exotic.

The princess licked her lips, "Did you come from the forest, kokiri?" the princess asked. Malon felt a bubble of annoyance. Look at his clothes, princess, he's not just from the forest, he's _wearing _it, she thought snidely.

"We do," the forest spirit named Link answered.

"Then… do you have the Heart of the Forest?" the girl asked tremulously, as if afraid that the dream she was in might shatter back into reality at any moment. Malon thought if anyone pinched her, she'd wake up, which scared her.

The demon named Link pulled something from his belt, and presented it to the princess. It was a large emerald, with golden branches curled around it.

The girl suppressed a giggle, "Then, my dream _was_ a prophesy!" she squealed, in a rather un-princess like manner.

"What did you foresee, princess?" the kokiri asked respectfully.

"I had a dream… dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule… But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds, and lit up the ground… The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy… I know this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest… Yes, I think you might be the one…"

The princess crossed her arms, musing. The demon patiently waited, but Malon blurted, "One for what?"

The princess seemed to notice her for the first time, "Kokiri, who is this?" she asked curiously.

"Her name is Malon. She hails from a place of horses, surrounded by high walls. I found her during my journey," the demon confessed.

The princess eyed her with suspicion, "You were not in my dream."

Malon shrugged, helplessly.

Zelda crouched beside the demon and began to whisper in his ear.

"I'm going to tell you the secret of the sacred realm that has been passed down by the royal family of Hyrule,"

Link listened to a tale of goddesses, and a relic that could grant the wish of whomever touched it.

"The temple of time is the entrance through which you can enter the sacred realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect three spiritual stones.

And another thing you need… is the treasure that the royal family keeps along with this legend… The Ocarina of Time!"

The princess stepped back, then twitched, "I forgot to tell you… I was spying through this window just now… The other element from my dream, the dark clouds, I think they symbolize that man in there!"

The demon rose smoothly, and paced to the window, glancing inside.

"Can you see the man with the evil eyes? That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the-" the princess was interrupted when the kokiri snarled. The sound was chilling, and Malon was reminded that she was standing next to a demon.

Link stared at the evil man. He knelt before a regal king, but Link had eyes only for the man he hated with all of his soul.

"Link, what is it?" the princess asked, shrinking back from him.

"That man. I will kill him and feed him his own eyes!" Link's hands clenched tightly into fists. He wanted to crash through the window and tear the man apart. _Slowly_.

"What did he do?" the princess asked softly.

"He killed the Father of the Kokiri, in his quest for the Kokiri emerald. We will avenge ourselves upon this murderer," Link hissed, cold chips of ice dripping from his lips. Malon was quietly impressed when the princess laid a hand on the demon's shoulder. The demon spun to face her, snarling mask inches away. Malon wondered how similar the mask and face looked at the moment. Zelda's voice was calm,

"What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And, he wants to conquer Hyrule… no, the entire world! Link, we're the only ones who can protect Hyrule!

I… I am afraid… I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come. We must not let Gannondorf get the Triforce. I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power. He shall not have it! You must find the other two spiritual stones. Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does, and then defeat him."

The princess pleaded with the forest spirit, who reluctantly unclenched his hands.

"My power is insufficient to kill the monster. I… I will do as you command." His head fell, and Malon pitied the demon.

"One more thing… take this letter… I'm sure it will be helpful to you," the princess pulled out a scroll and wrote quickly on it with a quill and ink, a royal seal already at the bottom of the scroll. When she finished, she handed it to Link, "It bears the royal seal, and will give you free passage throughout our lands."

"I will leave at once," the demon whispered hollowly, turning away.

"Oh, kokiri. One last thing," Zelda said quickly.

"Yes, princess?" the forest spirit asked.

"I have never looked a kokiri in the eye. May I see your face?" the princess asked shyly. Malon would have killed her with a glare, but she wanted to see just as badly as the princess. The demon sighed, and slid the wooden mask up.

A boy with green skin stood in the moonlight, meeting the princess's eyes, and then Malon's. Two short downward streaks of dark green war paint decorated his left cheek, directly below his eye. Wild straw colored hair peeked out from under his mask, and a few scars ran along his chin. His eyes were so blue, that in the moonlight, they appeared to be purple. They were also oddly… large. With a jolt, Malon realized that it was because his eye had no white to it.

Malon's gaze kept dragging back to his eyes… eyes that had seen things, both more beautiful than she could imagine, and other, darker things she should never see, even in her deepest nightmares.

He personified the forest; beautiful, frightening, alien, and… wild. He could never be tamed.

The kokiri whipped his mask back down, his countenance once more of a snarling animal.

"If you have no other requests, I will leave now," the kokiri whispered angrily.

The princess realized that she might have abused her authority, only now realizing how jealously the kokiri guarded their faces from outsiders.

Link turned, catching sight of a woman with pink-violet eyes and white hair standing several feet away, idly fiddling with a tanto blade. _Sheikah!_ Link jerked the redheaded girl behind himself, his other hand whipping the moblin blade out, falling into a defensive crouch.

Navi berated herself. She'd been so focused on the princess that she hadn't noticed the shadow warrior's approach. If Kokiri were masters of the Forest, then Sheikah were masters of Shadow and Darkness.

The woman smiled slightly, "I am Impa, of the Sheikahs. I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. Everything is exactly as the Princess foretold."

Link did not lower his guard or look away.

"You are a courageous boy… heading out on a big, new adventure, aren't you?" the shadow creature named Impa's words dripped with condescension.

Link did not grace her with a response.

"My role in the Princess's dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest.

This is an ancient melody passed down by the royal family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby… There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen _carefully_…" Impa sneered. She whistled out twelve notes.

"Do you need me to repeat it?" Impa asked smugly.

Link whistled the melody right back to her, perfectly, startling the Sheikah. He was a kokiri. Music was his first language, spoken word the second.

"If the castle soldiers find you there will be trouble," Impa did not seem to think that was such a horrible thing, but after a glance from Zelda, she grudgingly volunteered; "Let me lead you out of the castle,"

Link risked a peek at Zelda, who nodded to him. Link nervously sheathed his blade. The sheikah's tanto disappeared into a sheath at the back of her belt as well. Link saw the bulges of numerous concealed weapons beneath the formfitting black body suit.

Shadows leapt up, and swirled around all three, making Link tense.

When the shadows receded, they were standing outside the castle, atop the main gate that guarded the path. Malon whimpered, violently nauseous from the teleportation magic. Link didn't feel much better, but he wasn't going to let the shadow bitch know that.

Impa pointed off into the east, "Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the spiritual stone of fire." She was pointing to the tallest mountain on the horizon, which seemed to glow of its own accord.

"At the foot of Death mountain you will find my village, Kakariko. Only Royal family members are allowed to learn the song I taught you, which will prove your connection with the royal family. The princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones," as soon as she was finished speaking, shadows whipped around her, and she vanished, not caring if Link had any questions.

He wouldn't have asked them anyway.

Malon was glad she hadn't eaten recently, "Maybe it's just me, but did that Impa woman seem somewhat… nasty?" she asked.

The demon looked over at her, "The sun will rise soon. I will lead you back to your father."

Link paused outside the door to the inn. No one stirred at this hour, but the moon still illuminated some of the street.

Link looked at the girl, then around, carefully, making sure no one else was close enough to see. He stepped close, and his thick forest scent filled Malon's nose. He lifted his mask off, and pulled it all the way off, spiky blonde hair drifting in the breeze. The kokiri seemed smaller, without the mask. So close, she decided that his eyes really were purple.

"You have seen my face, Malon. No outsider has seen a kokiri's face and lived."

Malon felt a thrill of fear pound through her, and she started to step back, but a rough hand gently caught her chin, and the kokiri kissed her. She was too startled to move for a moment, and then he let go and stepped back, slipping his mask back on. She touched her lips. What was going on? The demon untied a bracelet from his wrist, and held it out to her. It glittered in the moonlight, made from braided bark fibers, colored bits of wood and pretty rocks were woven into it. It looked… beautiful. She held out her hand, and the kokiri fastened the bracelet around her narrow wrist, hands linger on hers,

"I cannot allow an outsider to see my face and live, but a friend can see me as I am. If you are ever lost in the forest, you will be found. Show my kin the bracelet, tell them my name, and you will not be harmed."

Malon touched one of the stones on the bracelet, "Thank you… Link," she whispered, trying to see him as scary or terrifying… she saw the intimidating mask, but she kept remembering his face in the brief moment before he found her lips. He had looked so cold, and vulnerable. She tried to see the mask, but it kept slipping away to the kiss. The shock was starting to wear off, leaving her mortified. Had she botched the kiss? Was her hair messed up? How did her breath smell?

"Goodbye, Malon. I hope to see you again," Link stepped back into the alley's darkness, out of the moonlight. "Wait!" she cried, stepping forward, following, but her searching hands found nothing. The alley was empty.

Link ran through the night, as if fleeing the coming dawn. Navi bounced along in his hair. She was deeply troubled, worried about her ward.

"Do you think that was fair, for Malon?" she asked hesitantly.

Link didn't reply, so Navi pressed on, "She isn't like kokiri. By the time she's interested like that, she'll be an adult, and you will still remain a child. This won't end well."

"I know!" Link snapped, frustrated and confused. His thoughts jostled around in his head as he ran. He liked Malon, and he knew that he couldn't have her. There was a reason kokiri didn't leave the forest. They didn't fit with the outsiders.


	4. Chapter 4 Stones and Bones

Link didn't bother with subtlety. He walked up to the front gate of the walled village, and stepped into the ring of light cast by the torches. The guard saw him, and jerked up straight, clutching his spear. Kokiri could not walk under the open sky, they couldn't leave the forest!

The masked warrior pulled something from its belt, and the guard lowered his spear at the forest spirit. The spirit halted outside spear range, and held up the object. It was a scroll. The demon lightly tossed the scroll at his feet, and crossed its arms, a sign of truce. The guard picked up the scroll, and awkwardly unrolled it. He glanced at the words, recognizing the handwriting, and the royal seal.

_The bearer of this scroll is under my orders to save Hyrule. Do not hinder him in any way, and provide whatever assistance he might require. This edict applies to all who swear fealty to my father, the King._

_By Order of:_

_Princess Zelda _

The soldier looked back up to see the kokiri warrior watching him patiently. The princess had summoned and bound a forest demon to do her will? Was such a thing possible?

Link did not know what was written on the scroll (he could ask Navi to read it for him), but whatever it was, the guard's demeanor changed as he read. Fear was replaced by confusion, then wariness.

"Very well… forest spirit, how may I assist?" The spirit pointed up, over the guard's shoulder. The soldier reluctantly looked, seeing the crown of Death Mountain.

"Death mountain?" he asked. The demon nodded slowly.

What had the princess done now?

Link followed his escort through the small village, which was still and quiet in the darkness. The guard nervously stopped at a second gate, which guarded the path that led into the heart of the mountains. When Link stepped through and the gate clanged shut, he turned, seeing the palatable relief on the soldier's faces. He nodded, and disappeared into the darkness.

Navi free ranged ahead of Link. There was so much _rock_. Everywhere, rocks, smaller rocks, then tiny rocks, all heaped on top of bigger rocks. There was no _life_ here. She darted back to check on Link, who was still doggedly hiking up the path. She was worried that the water and forage he'd gathered wouldn't last him to Death mountain. She circled him again, checking his perimeter for hidden enemies who might have arrived after her last sweep. Again, she didn't spot anything lying in wait. She wondered what was going through the boy's head. He had been even broodier than normal, responding with terse replies to her questions. She would have asked if he was ill, but Kokiri had immunity to disease. She rode on his shoulder, clinging to a strand of golden hair, "Are you upset with me, Link?" she asked.

"No."

"Is there anything bothering you?"

"No."

"Is there anything making you _less_ happy?"

"No."

"Are you even listening?"

"Yes."

Navi sighed, and went on another scouting run.

Link watched his guardian flit away, feeling a pang of guilt. Navi thought he was upset with her? He thought back to her earlier questions. Perhaps he _had_ been a tad brisk. He just needed some time alone in his own head… to sort things out. He didn't know what to do about Malon, he couldn't grasp that the Deku Tree was dead, and he was worried that his food wouldn't last long enough to get him to the Gorons… but mostly, all this rock was depressing. He could almost feel the lack of life crushing his optimism. How could anything survive here?

That's when something pounced on him, shoving him to the ground.

Navi froze when she heard steel sing on rock. The sound pulsed through the lifeless air, and she darted back towards where she'd last seen Link. She found him slashing at a… rock with legs. Well, it wasn't quite a rock, but it sure as hell looked like one. A single red slotted eye stared out of a rock-shaped body. Four sturdy legs supported the body, but the pair of fangs under its eye and the rows of sharp spines on its legs made it deadly.

Each of the four legs ended in a long, clawed foot that had razor sharp tips. Navi had seen them slice open a man's belly before. Link slapped one of its legs aside with his hand, deflecting its flight, narrowly avoiding his own disembowelment. With a grunt, he grabbed the serrated leg, just long enough to hack it off with his moblin blade, tossing it aside. The three legged Tektite retreated, barely able to maintain its balance. Link let it go, inspecting his hand. The spines had exposed the bones in his palm to the open air. Navi hovered over the deep wound, letting sparkling dust sift down into it. She felt her energy drop, and the flesh knitted back together, reluctantly. Link flexed his hand experimentally, "Thank you, Navi," Link whispered, his eyes roving, looking for other dangers.

On the third day, the volcano dominated most of the horizon, but that was not what occupied Link's attention. Instead, the Kokiri was staring fixedly at a strange boulder that had landed a few moments ago, nearly crushing Link.

With a groan, it stood up, rubbing its head. Link shifted his shield slightly, staring up at the creature. Navi landed on Link's shoulder, "Relax, he's a Goron," she said. Link did no such thing. Goron or not, he was _huge_.

"Oh. Who are you?" the goron asked, squinting with near-sighted eyes at the kokiri.

"I have a message for your leader," Link said.

The goron frowned, thinking. "Well… I have to climb back up for another roll anyway… I guess I could take you to Darunia," the goron shrugged, "But it's a long way. Might be faster if you rode on my back."

Link clung to the craggy back of the goron, as the tireless creature ascended the side of the volcano. After the first hour, Link's eyes began to droop, and he almost nodded off twice. After the second time, he asked the goron to wait, and fashioned a sling from his cloak. The goron seemed bemused by the whole thing, and after that, Link fell asleep, dreaming of food and water. Navi kept watch. 

"Okay, we're here," a deep voice boomed, and Link woke up reluctantly. He untangled himself from his cloak, and looked around blearily. He was underground now, in a carved passageway. The goron was already walking off, leaving Link in front of a large stone door. He knocked on it with his blade.

"Go away! I don't have any food!" someone roared from inside. Link sighed, and whistled Zelda's Lullaby. He waited patiently, and the door cracked open,

"Fine, fine, come in!" the voice boomed, no longer muffled by six inches of stone. Link slipped into the room, and found the biggest Goron yet, standing against the far wall, arms crossed. "Who are you?" the goron demanded angrily, "I heard the song of the Royal family! You're not the king's messenger!"

Link pulled out the scroll, and presented it to the goron leader. Angrily, the creature snatched it. Link barely managed to keep from flinching as the powerful fingers snapped shut inches from his hand. The creature carefully unrolled the paper, and peered at it shortsightedly. His colossal lips moved slowly as he read, then pursed, "What the hell? I'm being ordered around by the _princess?_ Has the king lost all _respect _for his Sworn Brother, Darunia?" He rolled the paper up and threw it angrily at Link, who easily fielded it with his tail and slipped it back into his belt. "And just what exactly do you want?! We're having a little starvation problem, here, but do we receive any aid from the king? No!"

Link pulled out the Kokiri emerald. Instantly Darunia froze, "That's… that's the kokiri emerald."

Link nodded. The goron shifted uncomfortably, "But, that is the Heart of the Forest. It's supposed to remain in the forest, hell, kokiri aren't supposed to leave the forest!"

"The Great Deku Tree is dead," Link answered coldly.

Darunia faltered, "Dead?"

"Two weeks ago a man in black armor came. He demanded the kokiri emerald. The Deku tree refused, and the man killed our patriarch with magic. That same magic repelled our counter attack as we sought to avenge our Father."

The goron looked at the kokiri with misplaced pity. He assumed that the kokiri had been forced to scatter.

"I need the Goron's ruby to kill this man," Link finished softly, his tail whipping angrily behind him.

Darunia was taken aback by the hatred in the smaller warrior's voice. He sighed, "This man you wish to kill. He is responsible for our current food shortage. He's unleashed a monster, so my people can't harvest our crop safely. I've already lost a dozen desperate volunteers." Darunia sat down heavily on a bench, holding his massive head in equally large hands.

"If I kill this monster… will you give me the stone?" Link asked.

Darunia laughed darkly, "That's what the dark man said."

Link tilted his head, "Answer my question, please."

Darunia threw up his hands, "What the hell! Pride won't fill our bellies! If you kill the monster, then yes, I will personally hand you the stone in a fancy ribbon."

"I'll take the stone, but you can keep the ribbon," the kokiri responded blandly, thinking Darunia was being literal. He had no use for a ribbon. "Where is this monster?"

"Hell, did you think I'd just let you walk in and steal all the glory?" Darunia roared, slapping his knee, which sounded almost like a thunder strike in the confined space. The goron reached over his head and plucked a massive sword from brackets in the wall.

"I'll _show_ you where the bastard lives."

Link strung his bow, and slipped it back across his chest, anticipating that he might have the insatiable urge to suddenly fill the air with sharp objects sometime in the near future. Darunia scoffed at the tiny bow, hefting his massive goron blade one handed. Link didn't care. Range beat reach any day of the week… (so long as range was out of reach) besides, the bow was just in-case. The kokiri warrior hadn't been able to fashion arrows on the move as he was, and no one made arrows small enough for his bow. He was down to nineteen arrows, out of his original twenty-five.

He mentally considered his inventory. He still had half a dozen deku nuts, but they didn't seem like they'd be much use. Anything that liked to eat Gorons would have to be big. He had his stone knife, but again, something that ate gorons… his moblin blade might have promise…

Darunia expertly navigated his way down the mountain, and Link followed in his footsteps. Less than an hour later, the Goron Elder stopped in front of a huge cave entrance.

"This, my small, terse friend, is Dodongo cavern. Originally named for the place of their extinction, now named, for the place of their annoying return," Darunia commented, hefting the heavy claymore like a stick.

Navi glinted on Link's shoulder as they cautiously advanced into the cavern. The heat hit Link like an anvil. He could feel his skin and clothing baking from the heat. Fearfully, Link realized everything he had on was highly flammable. Navi burrowed into Link's hair, trying to find refuge from the wall of dry heat.

"Now, stick close little forest shanker, these caverns are pretty confusing. Easy to get lost in them."

Navi kept her glow to a bare minimum. Besides, the_ lava_ did a nice job of illuminating the rooms anyway. Darunia paused by a wrecked statue, which had been scattered across the ground. Darunia pawed through the remains, "Well, the Beamos didn't seem to slow them much…" Rising from the remains of the sentinel, he peered deeper into the cavern. "I doubt our Armos statues discouraged the bastards either."

Link wasn't so sure, "There's a lot of blood on the ground," he commented.

Darunia shrugged, "They eat their dead, but with the speed these little buggers breed, it isn't so surprising."

There was the briefest rustle of noise behind them.

"Lizalfos!" Navi barked. Link spun, raising his shield. A heavy sword smashed down on it, but the sturdy wood held. Link slashed back at his attacker with the shorter moblin blade. The lizard-man leaned backwards, evading the swift strike, and spinning, slammed a powerful tail into the kokiri warrior.

Darunia roared, his sword hammering at a second Lizalfo's defenses, threatening to simply overwhelm the powerful monster under the sheer strength of his double handed blows. Link felt the chunk of floor beneath them wobble in the lave flow, making his stomach flutter as he struggled to find his footing. His opponent came in hard and fast, trying to split the kneeling kokiri's skull in half. Link rolled forward, surprising the monster, especially when he used its own momentum to disembowel it.

Darunia laughed eagerly as he forced his opponent to the edge of the platform, lava hissing a few feet below. His arms bulged like boulders as he strained against their locked blades, pushing and shoving. Finally, with a shrill squeal, the lizalfo lost its footing and toppled into the lava, screeching horribly as it thrashed and sank.

Link's opponent was hunched over, keening softly as it tried to hold its intestines in. Link crooned softly to the monster, who raised its head to look at the kokiri, singing the death song. It was dying slowly, in terrible pain. Kokiri will fight, when pressed, but they are not cruel. Link's blade kissed the dying lizalfo's neck, and the scaly head bounced into the lava. Kokiri just want their forest to be left alone. It's all they desire… and they will kill _anything_ that threatens it.

Darunia shivered. That song… he felt another shiver travel down his spine. There was a reason he preferred the Kokiri stay in the forest. Something that small should not be so dangerous. He shrugged off his apprehension, and picked up the lizalfo's weapon, inspecting it. There was a goron maker's mark on its crossguard. Darunia tossed it into the lava, "I'll not let the blades of my fallen warriors be used against us," he said, when he saw Link watching him, "Damned scavengers."

Link took another swig from his water skin, lifting his mask just high enough to choke down the hot water. Sweat freely ran down his arms and back. "How much farther?" he asked quietly. Darunia shrugged, sword propped over his shoulder, "We've searched over half the caverns. Only the deepest caverns remain… but they're big, and really, really hot."

He looked at his little sidekick with worry. The heat was taking a visible toll on the small warrior. The faerie was all but comatose. Darunia would feel terrible, and very guilty if the kokiri died from the heat.

"The sooner we kill this monster, the sooner I get out of here," Link muttered darkly. Darunia shrugged, and continued on, sword balanced across his shoulders once more. Link wondered if the Goron had any use for scabbards. They entered another in a long succession of caverns…

The pair froze when Darunia held up a hand in caution. "Wait, do you feel that? Something's burrowing in the walls…" He placed a huge palm to the floor and "listened"

Several somethings were burrowing, very close, in fact. Link waited patiently, ears pricked as he listened. He could hear a faint scratching noise…

"We must be close to the damned nursery!" Darunia whispered. A small head pushed up out of the dirt/stone floor, and Darunia pounced, grabbing it by the head and pulling it out. It looked like a fat snake as it wiggled and squealed.

"It's a baby. They stay in the ground, otherwise the adults would eat them," Darunia explained. The "baby" was as big as Link. Darunia squeezed slightly, and the head between his fingers exploded. "One down, a thousand to go," he sang mockingly, and flicked the limp body into the corner. They reached the end of the large passage.

Darunia crouched, staring down into the cavern below. Link edged closer, looking down the wide, switchback path. The cavern was immense. Lava glowed in the center, filling most of the room. A huge, indistinct shape slumbered in the farthest corner. The hunting party of dodongos they had followed was dragging its haul towards the slumbering form, hissing excitedly. Most of the meat consisted of tektites, but a few dead dodongos also graced the pile. The shadowy shape moved, and rose, impossibly large. It sniffed at the pile, and giant jaws snapped, messily catching it all in a single bite, gulping it down.

"I think we found your goron eater," Link observed, fiddling with some of his arrows.

Darunia shivered. It was massive. He felt another pang for his volunteers. They hadn't stood a chance. "Well, we could always try the frontal approach," Darunia grimly suggested. Not hearing a reply, he looked at Link… but the kokiri was gone. Fighting down surprise and panic, he looked around urgently, finally spotting the small warrior half-way across the cavern, hugging the wall as he skulked towards the distracted predator.

"Oh you stupid little forest shanker," Darunia growled, worry and irritation battling for supremacy.

Link struggled in the heavy heat, so close to the lava, but he managed to sneak his way to the giant dodongo without being seen. He lightly climbed up its stubby tail, this close to the monster, he was trying hard not to gag on the putrid odor. Link had noticed that some of the cavern floor was weak near the lava, and a plan began to unfold. He climbed up onto the massive head, unnoticed, and inspected the beast. The left eye was milky white, obviously blind. Good to know.

Darunia was practically spitting pebbles when the kokiri climbed back up to him, "And just what the hell was that? Playing tag?"

Link sat down on the ledge, and smiled behind his mask, "The cavern floor along the right approach has weakened. The monster is blind on its left side."

Darunia paused. "What are you saying?" he asked suspiciously.

"How do you feel about playing bait?" the kokiri asked innocently.

Darunia walked along the right hand side of the cavern, grumbling, "This is the _dumbest_ thing I have _ever_ done. That's even including the skinny-dipping stunt with those two zoras, or the time I-"

He shut up when he noticed that the giant dodongo had turned to look at him, a curious and hungry glint in its eye. "Well… I guess this is good, it just _seems_ like its bad!" Darunia commented, back pedaling. The dodongo ponderous followed him, and across the lava lake, Darunia could see the little dodongo pack coming around to cut him off. An arrow whistled overhead, slamming into the beast's good eye. The deku nut attached to the arrow's tip went off, and the beast howled from the noise, light, and pain. Another arrow hit its nose, again popping off, and the beast headed towards the source of its pain, enraged. Darunia rapped his sword against the stone, the ringing metal drawing the monster's attention. It headed towards the sound as Darunia backpedalled. Three more stun-arrows slammed into the monster's head in rapid succession, keeping it disoriented. Darunia clambered up the distracted monster's tail, and shakily climbed to its head. He buried all four feet of goron steel into the beast's eye, digging the metal around, probing for the brain, or anything vital for that mater. The dodongo roared and thrashed, its tail making the cavern walls shake.

Darunia was more concerned with what it was doing to the floor. He could see the fracture lines as part of the shelf that extended over the lava began to separate. That was his cue to-! The dodongo slammed its head against the ground, throwing Darunia loose, who kept a death grip on his sword.

Link held his final deku nut arrow in reserve, ready on the string. Darunia was sluggishly getting to his feet, unaware that he was holding a sword with only six inches of blade left. The giant dodongo thrashed wildly, scraping its eye against the stone, as if trying to rub the blade out of its eye. The shelf beneath it finally had enough, and a thunderous crack pierced Link's ears. The stone plate slid smoothly into the lava, forced down by the colossal weight on it. With a howl, the giant dodongo writhed, massive jaws snapping, throwing liquid rock into the air. Link shifted his aim to the swarming pack of dodongo that were charging at the dizzy goron. He released, and the ungainly arrow missed the kokiri's target (dead center of the pack) and instead hit the front rank directly. The confusion of trampled monsters thrashing about blindly was a good consolation prize, even if his arrow hadn't stunned them all. The confused monsters touched off a frenzy, resulting in the alert monsters perceiving them as injured… which had only one possible meaning to a dodongo: Food.

Darunia stood twenty feet away, and stared at the monsters eating each other, their monarch still thrashing in the lava. The goron turned to look at the giant monster. Its colossal size was protecting it from the heat of the lava, but that only slowed the inevitable. The heat was cooking it from the outside in, slowly, but surely, burning away layers of flesh. With a pop, the monster exploded into blue fire, startling Darunia. The smaller dodongos were also igniting, screaming, and falling. "The curse is breaking," a voice whispered at Darunia's elbow, startling him. "Stop sneaking up on me like that!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry," a very unrepentant kokiri said… probably smirking under that damned mask. The blue fire began to flicker and die. Something shiny fell into the lava with a splash, and exploded in a small geyser of lava. Huh.

"What was that?" Darunia asked idly. No one answered and he looked down. The kokiri was slumped over, head gently settling against the stone floor.

Damn.

"Hold on, little forest shanker!" Darunia snapped; plucking the tiny bundle up off the floor and pounding across the cavern, taking the ramp with the speed he'd had in his youth.

Linked dreamed… he was sitting in the forest, at the feet of the Great Deku tree. Saria and Mido frolicked nearby, playing the "game." Link felt unusually heavy, as if made of stone and not flesh. "Why aren't you dancing, Forest spirit?" a voice whispered in his ear. Link laboriously turned his head. Malon was sitting beside him, but her outsider clothing was gone. Instead, she wore the rough woodland garb of a Kokiri. Her mask was up, perched on the top of her head, her copper hair on fire from a slanting beam of sunlight.

"Malon?" he asked, stupidly. She smiled, "Yes, Link?"

"How are you here?" he asked.

"Because you want me here," she replied smugly, her fingers sliding through his hair. Even in his dream state, he knew Malon was not acting like herself… she was acting like a kokiri. But he didn't have any objections. Especially when she found his lips.

Navi paced inside Darunia's chamber, leaving little trails of sparkling yellow dust behind, betraying her anxiety. The back of the bench Link lay on looked like it was gilded with gold, so thick were the sparkles. She kept looking down at Link, who continued to sleep. She'd healed him, but he still hadn't woken up. Darunia crouched across the chamber, watching the kokiri with unwavering intensity.

Navi heard Link breath something, her keen hearing picking up the word that escaped Darunia: "Malon…"

He was dreaming? He sparkles shifted to green, curious. "He's sleeping?" she whispered.

And apparently about Malon.

Link was woken from his sleep by a booming voice. He jerked awake, hand scrabbling at his belt for a knife that wasn't there. Then his mind caught up to his body.

"Darunia?" he asked.

"Hell yes, Darunia, you forest shanker! Just about gave me a heart attack, keeling over like that!" The big goron roared.

Link sat up, his clothing feeling itchy and dry.

"And then I think you're on your final kick, and it turns out you're _napping?!_"

Link stretched, feeling the leaves under his forearm wraps crackle. He needed to replace his wardrobe. Soon.

Darunia grumbled and complained some more, before slapping something into Link's hand without fanfare or ceremony. Link stared at the sparkling gem in his hand. The Goron Ruby, spiritual stone of Fire. It was a pentagonal ruby, wreathed in stylized flames, made from gold, which curled around the ruby. It was… beautiful. He slipped it into his wallet, where it rested next to the kokiri emerald, making the wallet feel heavy on his belt. One more stone to go…

But first… he looked up the mountain, towards the summit. "Navi… are you sure about this?" he asked. The faerie nodded impatiently, "Yes, the Great Faerie of Courage is waiting for you," she whispered.

Link sprinted through the hail of falling rocks. The volcano picked _now_ to erupt?! He kept his eyes to the sky, dodging the heavy hail, stubbing his toes on loose rocks. He hugged the wall of the steep trail, occasionally ducking under his wooden shield to avoid a small fragment. A large boulder landed a few yards away, exploding like a giant deku nut, peppering Link with burning coals, and slicing up his legs. Navi hunkered down in Link's hair, leaking yellow dust. He could see the small, dark opening a hundred meters above him, the mouth to the cave… getting there proved… _challenging_.

Link stepped into the cave, which lit up, revealing that the floor was made of white stone, and _stars_ rained down the black walls in a never ending shower. He stood, transfixed, for several minutes, drinking it all in. Navi coughed politely in Link's hair, and the boy jerked back to reality. He'd come here for a reason. The stone was cool, but not cold, beneath his dirty toes, soothing the cracked and dry skin. A pool of crystal clear water trickled at the far end of the chamber, and Link started towards it, his steps raising only a whisper of sound. All around him he began to hear whispering voices at the edge of his perception. The whispers sounded curious, putting him at ease. He stepped up to the fountain, noticing that the stone below his feet had been inlaid with purest gold, into the symbol of the Royal Seal. Nervous, he licked his lips, and whistled Zelda's Lullaby. The last note still hung in the clear air when soft laughter filled the chamber. Link looked around, nervously, and a woman stood up in the fountain, emerging as if she had been crouched beneath the surface, although the water lapped up only to her ankles. Large, gossamer wings, colored like mother of pearl unfurled behind her, and Link realized the woman was naked. He fell to one knee, head bowed, before the Great Faerie of Courage.

"My apologies, Great Faerie," Link stammered.

More gentle laughter filled Link's ears, "Rise, child of the forest."

Link stood, but kept his eyes on his toes.

"You do not shame me by looking, young one. Beauty should not be hidden away, but shared to enrich all that behold it," the Great Faerie chastised gently. Link looked up, meeting the ancient being's emerald eyes. He almost wept. She was so beautiful, it hurt. Yes, he did peek lower, and physically, she was the image of sculpted perfection, soft curves, porcelain skin, firm breasts, silky green hair that cascaded down her shoulders, falling level with her hips, perfectly symmetrical and balanced face… but the true beauty that made him ache inside, was what he saw in her eyes. Here was a creature that was the definition of purity and goodness… something unattainable by mortals.

"We choose forms that are pleasing to look upon, child of the Deku Tree, do not be ashamed of what you are. It is in the struggle to achieve purity that you show the strength that mortals alone possess… to rise above your natures, and become something greater, something more," the Great Faerie of Courage knelt, and kissed the top of Link's head like a mother. All of Link's aches and pains melted away into the kiss, as the Faerie drew his pain and small wounds away, taking them upon herself.

"You will face great evil, child. I cannot interfere directly, it is not my place… but I can give you a token of my power, to carry within you, and strengthen you. The time will come when you must make a choice… and find out what kind of man you are."

The Great Faerie slipped Link's mask up, away from his head, and cupped his face between her hands. Gently, she kissed his forehead, and light exploded into Link's mind. He felt his mortal vessel… expand, as a tiny splinter of the Great Faerie entered him, to mix within his soul.

"I give you the power to call fourth my wind, and coat your blade with the strength of your courage," the Great Faerie whispered.

"Thank you, Great Faerie," Link whispered, feeling sudden knowledge that was not his own bubble up into his awareness.

"Please, young warrior, call me Farore," with a soft laugh, she knelt, and disappeared below the shallow water.


	5. Chapter 5 The Belly of the Whale

No one knew where the Zora actually lived. Naturally, Zora were seen in the sea and rivers, ponds and lakes… and Darunia was no help either, as his experience was limited to an unfortunate incident that he would not go into particulars about, during his younger days. It was widely held that the Zora protected the kingdom's water supply, though how this would help Link find them was a mystery…

Which was when he felt an explosion of _wrongness_ behind him, and a wiry woman with white hair and pink eyes appeared.

"Sheikah," Link said without inflection.

"Kokiri," the shadow-warrior returned coolly.

The two demons eyed each other for several long seconds, before the Princess's bodyguard broke the silence.

"Time is running out. The enemy is mobilizing his forces on the eastern borders. Princess Zelda feels that speed has become a factor in her prophesy. You must increase your pace, and find the Zora sapphire, _soon_."

_You tell me nothing I do not know_, Link thought caustically, "If there is so little time, why do _you_ not retrieve the stones?"

"Who would trust a Sheikah? For our purposes, the stones must be given freely, or else ill will come of them to those who wield their power," the Sheikah explained, with an undercurrent of frustration. Clearly, theft had been the Sheikah's inclination.

"As guardian to the royal family, do you know where to find the Sapphire?" Navi asked, clearly embarrassed that she did not possess that knowledge.

Behind the cloth mask, Link had the sinking feeling that Impa was smiling. Then he was falling to his knees, voiding the contents of his stomach down a muddy river bank.

"Follow the river to its source. The barrier will let a messenger of the royal family pass," Impa said, before the shadows leapt up again, and consumed her, leaving behind only an oily sensation on the air, to mark her passing.

"I despise that woman," Navi growled, untangling herself from Link's hair. Once the violent nausea had passed, Link took in his surroundings. He stood on the bank of a large, swift moving river, which passed out from a gorge in the mountainous foothills.

Reluctantly, the child of the forest began to walk upriver, forced to cling to the river bank at times, since the water had clearly created the gorge in the first place, and a dry path proved difficult to find. It took most of the day to reach what Link _hoped_ was the river's source… otherwise, he'd have to scale a _waterfall_.

Unfortunately, his journey was not over. There were in fact, _three_ waterfalls, although the first two were not terribly high… not when compared to the final fall, which stretched several hundred feet high, deep within the mountains.

A hand carved path cut into the rock face, climbing steeply, perhaps half-way up the falls… then it stopped, a spear's length from the raging torrent.

Link stared at where the path ended. He couldn't see anything beyond it except thundering white water. _Now what?_

Navi was the first to notice that the mildewed stone ahead of them was strangely shaped, with a sunken section ahead. Link took out his stone knife, and scraped at the shape… slowly revealing a glint of gold. Emboldened, the kokiri continued to scrape, until the seal of the royal family appeared. It was no larger than his hand… but _someone _had taken the time to engrave the stone, and fill it with gold. Link whistled the lullaby, and wasn't surprised when nothing happened, since even _he_ couldn't hear the notes of the song so close to the waterfall. He repeated the song twice, and waited for nearly five minutes. _He _saw no change… but the eyes of a faerie are keen.

"I… I think the water is thinning," Navi observed. It took another hour, but the water had definitely slowed, and Link could see where the path continued into a hole behind the waterfall. He would need a running start to clear the gap, he guessed. The water seemed to be no thicker than his fingers, and had lost most of its roar. Navi stared at the thin curtain of water apprehensively, worried about getting her thin wings wet. Link jumped the gap, and landed inside the hidden entrance. He pulled off his shield, and angled it through the curtain, creating a gap in the water for his nervous guardian.

Link proceeded cautiously down the tunnel, coming out onto a path that cut through a massive underground lake. Deep water swirled on either side of the stone path.

Anything could be hidden within. Link had heard of zoras before, but he'd never actually _seen_ one of the fish-people. He expected to find fish with arms and legs. The truth was a little more disconcerting. Halfway across the lake, he saw the water explode, and a shape landed before him. It was the height of a hylian man, though the limbs looked stretched, slightly, but covered in wiry muscle. Long fingers held a spear with easy skill, ready to strike, should the need arise. Webbing joined the fingers between the knuckles, leaving the last half of each finger independent. What disturbed the kokiri most, was the eyes. The fish-man's eye seemed to lack irises, filled by the giant black pupils. They also had no eye lids. The zora possessed a fish's tail… but attached to the back of its sloping head.

"You are the messenger of the King?" the zora asked. Gills flared on either side of the Zora's neck, though Link saw the chest itself rise and fall as well, indicating lungs were also present. Link drew forth Zelda's letter, and handed the document to the zora, wondering what the fish-man would make of it. Navi could see other shapes prowling deeper in the water, circling and weaving among the rocks of the lake bed. More zora, no doubt. In the light cast by Navi, Link saw that the zora was covered in dull grey scales no larger than that of a fish.

The zora bowed gravely, "Follow me to the king."

Link noted that the teeth that filled the Zora's mouth were very small, and shaped like needles, although three rows of teeth filled the same amount of space as a hylian's.

Link wondered if leaders were chosen for their size. Darunia stood nearly a head above every other goron, and the King of the Zoras was no exception… although he seemed to have traded in any muscle he might have possessed for larger fat reserves.

Link politely explained to the giant fish that he needed the Zora's Sapphire in order to defeat a terrible enemy, a man in black armor. At this description, the small group of zora retainers began to murmur among themselves, and the King looked pensive… or constipated, Link couldn't tell, on features that had been stretched so far.

"Why should I give _you_ our most treasured totem?" the King finally asked.

Navi was listening to the whispers of the zoras, despite it being in the clicks and subvocalized moans of their native tongue, which was best heard _under_ the water.

Navi landed on Link's shoulder, and whispered into his ear, "The dark man has already been here… he's cursed their guardian deity."

Link nodded, and folded his arms, "Because we share an enemy. The dark man's magic killed the Great Deku Tree, the father of the Kokiri. I have broken the dark man's curse twice before. I offer my aid, in exchange for your Sapphire."

Link drew his sword, and called upon Farore's magic, as he held the blade before his face. Blue light wreathed the steel, and cast fierce shadows upon his mask, and the walls of the throne room.

"Warrior of the forest… I… accept your terms," the King of Zoras sighed.

Link was quickly led through the network of half-flooded caverns, until they suddenly emerged into the sunlight… and Link realized he was standing in yet another volcano… except, where Death mountain was tall, and narrow, this one was short, and wide. Also, the fires had drowned long ago, it seemed, filling the bowl with water. This was all secondary though, to the enormous fish that floated near the edge of the shore. It moaned and clicked piteously, shaking the teeth in Link's head.

"Lord Jabu Jabu," the zora in the lead said, with a regal flare of his webbed hand.

They explained that the great lord had attempted to protect the zora by eating the Dark-man's monster… and now that same monster was tormenting their guardian from the inside. As Link listened, he began to feel a familiar sinking feeling… which solidified, as soon as Navi summed it up for him:

He had to climb inside the giant fish, find the monster, and kill it.

Link stood before Jabu-Jabu and reached deep inside himself, finding that core of purity, the shard from the Great Faerie. He used her knowledge, and traced a design upon the shore in the sand. It glowed green, for a split second, before fading from mundane view. Then he squared his shoulders, and nodded to the zora guard, dreading the next part of his task. Unfortunately, it was every bit as bad as he'd feared. The smell alone nearly killed him… and his claustrophobia increased as the jaws closed.

He had been swallowed by a _fish_. Navi brightened, casting pale blue light across the whale's mouth.

"Well, now we just have to find the monster…" he muttered. Not _another_ monster. Link squeezed down the claustrophobically small esophagus, emerging into what he hoped was _not_ the stomach, but logic told him it was. His feet tingled from acid, and he grimaced. Someone screamed in the darkness. Link remembered the king mentioning something about guards sent to kill the monster never coming back…

Navi jerked her head, "This way, Link!" she said. Link chased the glowing faerie through a sphincter of some kind. A sickly hole in the side of the passage pulsed, and a pale blue hand scrabbled to hold onto the slick edges. "There, Link!" Navi cried. Link grabbed the hand and pulled. Beneath his fingers the hand he held tightened into a death grip. He was slowly being pulled into the hole. Link struggled, his feet on either side of the hole, but something powerful had a grip on the victim. With a muffled curse, one of Link's feet slipped in the burning slime, and he was yanked into the hole as well.

Link popped out at the other side of the hole, bedraggled, slimed, and furious. Navi darted in after him, lighting up the room. It was a repository of some kind, filled with rotting fish, and other… unmentionable… things. It would appear that Link had found the missing guards… although he couldn't tell how many, since most of the pieces were scattered throughout the debris.

To Link's surprise though, the victim Link had tried to save was not a guard, but a zora girl. Wrapped around her lower body was a pulsating tentacle, which led up into the ceiling. It did _not_ look like a piece of Jabu-Jabu… and Link was, after all, furious. He yanked out his sword, and hacked at the tentacle, perilously close to the zora's legs. The tentacle spasmed, and tried to pull away, but Link finished severing it with one last hack, nearly dropping the zora girl in the process.

She gasped, her eyes flashing open, and scrambled away from Link, eyes wide. Link flicked the ichor off his blade, wiping it off on his foot wrap, before sheathing it. "K-ko-kokiri!" she stammered, raising her arms defensively. Link noted, with interest, that a spiny fin had risen along the outer edge of her forearms, with rather sharp looking spines protruding. He hadn't noticed them when they were lying flat against her arm… but… they looked like they could do some damage.

Link nodded deferentially, "I have been sent to kill the monster within Jabu Jabu, by the King of the Zoras," Link had found that if people thought he was bound to someone else's will, they tended to think he wasn't a danger, or at least, stopped wetting themselves.

"Oh," she said, softly. "So father still does not know I am missing."

_Father?_

"Why are you here?" Link asked, curious.

The girl climbed to her feet angrily, cocking her chin up, "_I_ am Princess Ruto, attendant to Lord Jabu Jabu, and it is _my_ responsibility to destroy the monster."

Her courage wavered a little, when her gaze fell upon the severed tentacle, floating among pieces of her father's warriors.

She steeled her features, "And how is it that a Kokiri has traveled so far, to lend aid to my father?"

"I was promised something," Link said.

The zora girl looked horrified for a second, before she shook her head, "No, he wouldn't, surely I haven't upset him _that _greatly—" the fish-girl whispered to herself.

"The Zora Sapphire," Link finished.

Ruto's horror gave way to anger. Father _dared_ to bargain with things that did not belong to him?

"You should leave. This place is… _unsafe_," Link said, looking pointedly at an arm floating near his ankles.

Ruto sneered, "Your bargain is void. Father does not have the authority to pawn away my birthright. You do not belong here, demon."

The kokiri tensed, looking at her. The snarling mask covered whatever his expression might have been, making her nervous that she couldn't see what he was feeling. He did not attack, though, which emboldened Ruto, "Be gone from this place."

"I have already been promised the Sapphire," the demon said coldly, "If you are the true bearer, then _you_ must name the boon-price for the gem."

"_NO!_" Ruto shouted, advancing on the dangerous creature, her spines raising in anger. That was a mistake. A mound of meat and debris shuddered, and sloughed off the prey animal that had hidden within… the huge octorok stirred, emerging from its massive shell, and looked at Link and Ruto. It looked like an enormous octopus, though possessed only four tentacles… and carried the shell of a snail. It was easily the size of the monster Link had killed beneath the Great Deku Tree's roots.

"Down!" the kokiri shouted, bringing his shield to bear. Ruto ducked down behind him, and heard a dull thwomp. The kokiri somersaulted over her, his shield in several pieces, hanging off his arm. He landed in a puddle of water, motionless. Ruto panicked, spotting the serrated blade lying near her. She snatched it up, and turned to face the octorok, who was busy preparing to fire another rock from its snout. It tensed, and fired.

Ruto dove to the side, and the rock missed, slamming into the intestinal wall of Jabu-Jabu. Behind her, she heard the twang of a bowstring, and the octorok screamed in pain. Ruto turned to look. The kokiri was crouched, drawing another arrow to fire. Without remorse, another shaft appeared in the monster's other eye. The forest demon slipped the bow over his chest, and darted forward,

"Sword!" he barked, and Ruto tossed it to him. He snatched it, fumbling with the now slimy hilt, and vaulted up onto the blinded monster. The blade glowed blue in mid air, and plunged into the beast's forehead. The kokiri drew it out, until the blade glowed again, and stabbed it to the hilt once more. Ruto watched the giant octorok as it was viciously murdered by something a tenth its size. Finally, it gave up, and fell, wheezing as it slowly died. The kokiri slumped down against his victim, and rested, holding his masked head.

Ruto saw the little blue faerie flit to his shoulder. Whatever she said was too quiet for Ruto to hear, but the kokiri nodded and mumbled, holding his head tightly.

"Are you… injured?" Ruto asked warily. The faerie looked up at her angrily, "He deflected a boulder the size of his head, meant for you, you stupid little girl!" Ruto was taken aback by the faerie's anger. The faerie crawled into the demon's mask, and intermittent flashes of blue followed. The demon gasped, and sat up straight, muscles tendon-tight.

Link's concussion disappeared, the ringing in his ears vanished, and he regained his sense of balance… not to mention his eyes uncrossed. He found Ruto, staring at him,

"If you do not name your boon, then I will consider saving your life payment enough to claim the gem," the demon snarled, his weapon began to glow once more.

He was dangerous. If the monster did not kill her, then she had no doubt that the demon would.

"Why do you want the Sapphire so badly?" Ruto asked.

"I need it," the demon said tersely.

"_Why?_" Ruto demanded.

"The dark man. He created the monster… and he killed the Great Deku Tree. I need the gem, to kill him," the demon answered reluctantly.

An idea came to her. A way to solve several problems…

"Very well, Kokiri. Assist me in cleansing Lord Jabu-Jabu of this curse, and I will give you the Zora's Sapphire, by my own hand," Ruto said slowly.

The forest spirit stalked closer to her, but she raised her chin, refusing to be cowed. The demon's eyes lit up with blue light, "Agreed, Princess Ruto of the Zora."

Ruto shivered. What had she just done?

"Now, show me something to kill," he growled, cleaning his bloody sword. His shield was in little pieces, and his clothes were ruined. The zora's head bobbed up and down rapidly.

This was _not_, one of his better days.

"There's weird… jelly-fish things, as well as octoroks, electric worm things, and tentacles. None of them belong inside Jabu-Jabu," Ruto whispered. The kokiri nodded, "They don't matter. Once the monster is destroyed, anything related to the curse will come unbound," Navi told Ruto, remembering the resurrected dodongos.

Link followed the princess through… well, he preferred not to think of how they escaped the chamber. His clothes were ruined though. As Link climbed through another tubule into yet _another_ chamber, he came face to face with a big worm that seemed to glow with internal lightning. It writhed out of the tunnel wall, wriggling towards Ruto, "Princess!" Link shouted. Ruto turned, and screamed, throwing up her arms, fins snapping up. Link snagged its tail, feeling an electric shock run through his body; tightening every muscle he had… which meant he now had an unshakable death grip, for better or worse.

Ruto screamed, and braced for the attack, but when it didn't come, she opened her eyes. The demon held the worm by the tail, electricity running down his arm in visible waves. Its serrated jaws snapped inches from her face. "Aghh!" the demon screamed, enraged beyond all sanity. He slammed the worm against the floor, snatching out a stone knife, and proceeded to turn it into a pile of quivering chunks.

The tentacle that had snagged Ruto earlier returned, and edged into the room, attracted by the disturbance. The demon drew out a cruel looking short sword, stalking the blind appendage. The sword blade glowed with blue energy, and he raised it, slicing clean through the tentacle in a single slash. Something screamed deeper inside Jabu-Jabu.

"Quickly, follow it!" Navi shouted, as the tentacle withdrew rapidly, a Zora princess and Kokiri warrior in pursuit. Before long, the tentacle began to slow, before it slithered through a sphincter into another chamber. Link crouched, and held up a hand to make Ruto stay behind him. "Navi, can you check it out?" he whispered. The bobbing light disappeared into the next chamber with… whatever the hell it was. In her dim light, Link could make out snatches of the monster, but nothing concrete.

Navi bobbled to a stop in front of Link, "It's rooted into the floor, and the ceiling, with tentacles going deeper into Jabu-Jabu. It looks like some kind of parasite. There are three feeder tentacles on the top, which you're probably going to have to cut. It has another three tentacles on the top, they don't connect to anything, and I'm not sure what they are. The body itself is large, and bulb shaped. There's about twelve pockets of electrified goop along the outside, so be careful in how you attack."

Link nodded, "Suggestions?" he asked quietly.

Navi landed in his hand, and sat down, cross-legged, dusting green. "Your priority should be to cut off its source of food. Sever the feeding tentacles first… After that, probably carve it up with a blade of some kind, avoiding the electric sacs."

Link nodded, "Ruto, stay here." He slipped forward into the darkness, drawing his moblin blade. As he entered the room, he gained a better look at… whatever it was.

It was definitely organic, and almost… anemone-like. It glowed faintly in the darkness, and didn't seem to notice Link's presence… at least, not until he scrambled up it, and hacked off a tentacle. It screamed, and Link gritted his teeth as a back flow of electricity ran up his arm. The feeder tentacles were electrified. Green fluid leaked from the severed stump, and Link slashed again, cutting the second tentacle. The only reason he didn't scream, was because his teeth were clenched so tightly. Just one more… Link raised his sword, and a shorter tentacle touched his chest, and blasted him off, wreathed in a corona of electricity. He hit the far wall of the chamber, hard, and slid down, his heart no longer beating. Slippery hands grabbed him under his arms, and dragged him away as he passed out.

Navi looked at Link, terrified. Ruto had her fingers insider his tunic, flat against his chest, using tiny jolts of electricity to try to jumpstart his heart again. One hand rested on his sternum, the other against the ribs on his left side. She ran another current between her hands. Nothing. Navi was out of magic. She could save Link… but she'd die, and he'd be without a fairy. This had to work.

Link lay in the middle of the forest, staring up into blue eyes, framed by fiery hair. Malon was straddling him, her hands against his chest, "Malon?" he asked, worried. Something was wrong. She wasn't smiling. "Link… your heart. It stopped beating." She told him, scared. Her hands glowed, and he felt something in his chest lurch, then still again. "Make it beat!" she yelled in his face, frantic. Her hands glowed again, and he felt more pain in his chest, something struggled to move, but didn't seem to remember how.

"I don't remember…" he whispered tiredly, "I'm sorry, Malon," he was so tired…

"Then listen to mine," Malon hissed, holding his head to her chest. He heard the lub-dub, lub-dub, of a heart beating. He listened for several minutes (it seemed) then she let go, and her hands glowed, brighter then they had before, "Wake up, Link." She stabbed her hands into his chest, one through the sternum, and one through his ribs, then lit him on fire from within.

"Aggghhh!" Link screamed, his body arching from the amount of current Ruto was running through him, bucking her off. Startled, she let go, and he fell, twitching, thrashing without coordination as his muscles fired randomly, convulsing. A few seconds later, he stilled.

"Did I… did I kill him?" Ruto asked, terrified. Navi landed on her partner's shoulder, and checked his neck. He had a pulse. "No. You just saved his life," Navi murmured weakly.

Link coughed, violently, and weakly struggled to sit up, bracing his back against the intestinal wall behind him. "Navi?" he asked weakly.

"Here, Link," Navi tugged on a strand of his hair. "Did you have a back-up plan?" he asked.

"How much electricity can you channel?" Navi asked Ruto. She shrugged, "I've never tested it before."

Link crouched, and handed Ruto his steel blade, "Be careful, Princess," he warned her, stringing his bow. "Just keep it distracted…" Ruto muttered back.

Link raised his bow, and fired, piercing one of the electric sacs. It exploded, violently, and the hair on Link's head stood painfully on end from the electricity conducted through the damp floor. He drew another arrow, and aimed again, popping a second sac. The electric tentacles oriented on Link, and he decided to jump to his left. The lightning missed him, but hit the wall behind him, which would have shocked him… if he'd been touching the floor. Link landed, catching a little bit of the tail end, which hurt, but wasn't anything to whine about. He fired again, popping a third sac. He heard the creature scream, shortly followed by Ruto, who was flying through the air, trailing electricity. Link sprinted, and caught her, hitting the ground hard, but with the princess on top.

If the ground hadn't been so organically pliant, he might have been hurt. Instead, he was just a little sore and winded. Ruto scrambled up, electricity bleeding off of her. "That was… a lot," she whimpered, and Link danced away as she grounded her self, shocking his toes.

The monster's electric tentacles were pointed at Link, and he wove his way across the room, ready to jump. He shot off another arrow, popping a fourth sac. When the lightning did come, it was lethargic. Link didn't even have to dodge, just jump, and the bolt was significantly smaller. "It's losing energy!" Navi shouted from his hair, "Keep hitting the sacs!" Link halted, and snap fired five arrows in less than three seconds, hitting four of his five targets. He ran again, but he didn't even bother to jump when the lightning fell short, a weak dribble. "How many sacs does it have left?" Link asked Navi, as he sighted up, "Well, you've popped about two-thirds of them," she guessed.

Ruto stormed towards the anemone, and Link hastily jerked his hand at the last second, making his shot go high, missing Ruto. "Damn it!" he hissed. The princess had almost charged right into his arrow! She dragged the metal blade through two of the sacs, electricity arcing off her elbows, feet, and hands, as she channeled and vented the electricity into the floor.

Link fired at a sac on the other side of the anemone from her, popping it. With a shriek of pain, Ruto popped the last sac. Link slipped his bow over his chest, and sprinted towards Ruto, "Sword!" he called. She tossed it to him, and he fumbled it, almost losing it. She had slimy hands. The sword glowed blue as he forced magic into it, and with a roar, he buried it into the anemone, and dragged the blade down to the floor, cutting a five foot gash in it, which was nearly twenty inches deep. Ruto grabbed his neck moments before one of the electric tentacles smacked him. Link felt his hair rise, but the residual charge in the tentacle darted into Ruto instead. She hardly jerked. Compared to what it had been hitting her with earlier, this was a trickle. "Alright then, don't let go," Link warned her. He had an electric shield. He forced more magic into his sword, the glow throwing his masked face into eerie relief and shadow. Link stabbed his blade into the incision he'd already made, elbow deep in it, and dragged the blade down as far as he could. He was blinded by the surge of fluids gushing out of the wound, but he withdrew his blade and empowered it, preparing one final push for good measure. Tentacles slapped his head, but any energy they had was sucked up by Ruto.

She grimly held onto his neck, and lost sight of him as he stabbed the monster, disappearing up to his waist in the slit, random flashes of blue light piercing the flood of viscous fluids. She was up to her shoulder. Electricity was coursing up her arm, but she channeled it into the thousands of electrical capacitors that resided underneath her skin. She would have to vent them soon, but not yet. The creature shuddered, and suddenly exploded into flames. Ruto screamed and fell back in primal terror. She gasped, the Kokiri was wreathed in the blue fires and stood, sword in hand, glaring up at the monster like some kind of… well, demon. The monster shrank and dissolved into black dust. Ruto stopped screaming when she realized the flames on her weren't hot, or even burning her.

"Relax, princess," the Kokiri said, "The curse is breaking. The magic is no longer able to sustain the summoned forms."

Ruto peered at her hand, "So this is an illusion?" she asked.

"No. It's just the curse, being cast in reverse order. It's being undone," the faerie explained patiently. Streamers of fire coursed into the chamber, presumably from the other monsters throughout Jabu-Jabu. It was all being gathered into a single point. The kokiri stepped into the maelstrom of fire, and reached out, catching something as the fires died. It glowed in his hand like a rainbow, some kind of stone. He clenched his hand. Rainbow lights escaped from between his closed fingers, and he seemed to swell, his clothing whipping in an invisible wind, as he absorbed the curse. He laughed, the sound filling the entire room. Ruto shivered. It was wild magic, neither good, nor evil. It was simply inexplicable, and unpredictable.

Then the veil lowered, and only a kokiri warrior stood before her once more.

Link recovered as many arrows as he could find, and cleaned off his sword, sheathing it. (But not before unstringing his bow and attaching it to the quiver). Link stood next to the Princess, and held out his hand, "Your hand, if you would," he requested. She held out her hand, and Navi darted into Link's hair. He reached out, finding the tight chord of magic that stretched from him, back to his anchor, outside Jabu-Jabu. He smiled, and plucked it, setting off a cascade of magical resonance down the strand. All three vanished in a burst of green light, a brief strain of music escaping, echoing through the dark innards of Jabu-Jabu.

Ruto gasped, as the music faded from her ears, and realized she was standing atop Lord Jabu-Jabu. The demon let go of her hand. The echoing, haunting music made her soul ache, wishing to hear it again. The demon turned to her, "The boon is given, the curse is broken. Now, where is the Sapphire?" the demon asked pointedly. Ruto hesitated for several seconds, before reaching to her belly. She whispered softly, and Navi heard the edges of a minor spell. There was a flicker of motion, and Ruto's hand did not come away from her belly empty.

Link stared at the gem. Three blue sapphires, as large as his thumb, were connected in a lattice of gold weave. It looked like three drops of water had just hit the surface of a still pond, setting off ripples. It was… beautiful.

Ruto saw a way out of her predicament. She could dodge the arranged marriage with that snotty prince Rulias, and not have to worry about a second marriage arrangement. "Forest spirit, I hereby bequeath to you my mother's stone, the Zora's sapphire, spiritual stone of water."

Link squinted at the zora behind his mask. Something was going on. She had a determined gleam in her eye. Taking his cue from her formal tone, he responded,

"I accept the Zora's sapphire."

Ruto handed the gem to him, and he tucked it into his pouch. Her somber face broke into a grin that threatened to reach her ears, "Thank you!" she squealed, hugging the demon.

Unfortunately, her momentum was _slightly_ greater than she thought, and a moment later they were falling. The Faerie darted out of the demon's hair, and watched them hit the water below.

Link sputtered, clawing his way towards the surface, inhaling water.

Strong arms grabbed him, and he shot to the surface, gasping and choking up water.

"I'm sorry… but thank you, forest spirit," the princess gushed, "That was legally binding, I'm free!" she giggled.

_Legally what?_ "Hold on, what are you talking about?" Link asked. Something had gone right over his head, and he was having that sinking feeling again.

"You just agreed to marry me, thus making you my betrothed," Ruto explained. Link thrashed, and broke away, latching onto Jabu-Jabu to stay above the water, "What?!" he demanded.

Ruto waved her hand dismissively. On dry land she might fear the kokiri, but they were helpless in the water. "By taking the gem, you accepted my betrothal, and _before _you start snarling, it's not what you think."

"Girl, I still have my bow. Talk quickly," the kokiri growled coldly, and Ruto felt some of her confidence shatter. Perhaps kokiri weren't _completely _helpless…

"My father arranged for me to marry a rather uppity and snotty zora prince. Technically, I was not yet betrothed. By becoming _your_ betrothed, I sidestepped the obligations my father arranged, which now fall to _you_. However, only _you_ can break off the betrothal… and before you say anything, just listen! The wedding date is set by the parents of the male. If they never set a date, and you never break off the betrothal, then my father can't legally marry me off to someone!"

Link sighed, "Princess…" He petered off, seeing the desperate hope in her eyes. He didn't have the heart to crush that, especially since he wasn't actually being forced to marry her. It was political maneuvering to allow her to choose her own way… to be free.

"Alright. Now, could you please get me to dry land? Preferably _before_ my clothes disintegrate?" Link asked.

"Well… actually, I messed up." Ruto admitted.

"What do you mean?" Link asked tiredly.

"Well, when I went to hug you… I meant to… well, kiss you. I missed though. There still needs to be a kiss to seal the new pact," Ruto answered nervously.

"If I kiss you, will you take me to land?" Link asked, irritation starting to build. He could practically _feel_ his clothes swelling from the water.

"Deal!" Ruto exclaimed, excited. She was going to be _free!_

The demon flipped his mask up, startling Ruto. Under the mask, they didn't look so demonic. They'd almost be cute, actually, if not for the green skin and the lack of fins. Maybe, if she pretended he had fins, she just couldn't _see _them… nope, na-ah. Still not attractive. Definitely going to close the eyes for this kiss, Ruto thought.

Link waited impatiently. The longer she stalled, the more waterlogged he would get, "Sometime today would be _nice_, princess," he snapped.

"Okay, fine!" Ruto darted forward, closing her eyes. She missed again. _Damn it!_

The demon growled in irritation when she smacked his eye with her lips. His fingers caught her chin, and jerked her head down, clamping his own lips to hers. His lips were uncomfortably warm, and dry, but she decided that, compared to the other six kisses she had gotten (mostly on dares when the teacher wasn't looking), and obvious pratfalls aside, he was a decent kisser… but there was no way in hell she was going to marry him.

Link kissed a fish. The lips were cold, and clammy. He held the kiss for six beats, and disengaged. The princess eyed him speculatively, "You know… if you were a Zora…"

"But I'm not, and I'm wet. Take me to land," Link interrupted impatiently, flipping his mask down. The zora girl shrugged, "Alright, grab my shoulders."

Link eagerly grabbed her shoulders, and she took her sweet time swimming to shore. _Finally _they reached water shallow enough for him to wade in, and he slogged to shore. He had all three spiritual stones.

"You know, kokiri, you're almost cute, when you're helpless," Ruto giggled from the water. Navi started to land on Link's shoulder, but seeing how wet it was, she chose to hover instead, "So, are we done here?" she asked.

"Yes." Link answered shortly, stalking off into the tunnel that led (eventually) back to the castle. He'd had it with these fish people. He salvaged what dignity he could from the situation, and held his head high. Unfortunately, his foot wraps were disintegrating, trailing strips of twisted plant material behind him…

"So… how does it feel to be _engaged?" _ Navi asked innocently.

Link's response was incoherent.

"You want to talk about it?" Navi asked.

She didn't think she could ever repeat his answer in polite or even mixed company… but basically, he said no.


	6. Chapter 6 All Our Hopes

As Link emerged from the gorge, onto the plains, Link half expected to receive anther impatient visit from Impa, before being whisked away to the castle. He had the gems now, after all… but no shadow warrior came. This began to worry Link. Severely.

He made the journey to Castle town in less than four days, drawing heavily upon his new strength, and assistance from Navi. The sun had begun to set at the end of the fourth day, when Link crested the last of the hills before the town, giving him an unimpeded view of his surrounds… not that he noticed much beyond the immediate: the castle was under attack. Hylian soldiers were fighting toe-to-toe with nimble olive skinned women, all with flaming red hair. Most carried glaives, but a few, the commanders, were dancing about with a pair of slender scimitars, which they were putting to excellent use against the Hylian spearmen. Link slipped into the chaos, stringing his bow. He only had seven arrows… Link scrambled up onto a nearby roof, unobserved in the desperate melee below. The gerudo were outnumbered, but most of the dead wore Hylian uniforms. Link took aim at one of the gerudo commanders. His small arrow took her through the eye, dropping her in a graceless pile. Link drew another arrow, sighted up, and killed the second commander. The gerudo had taken notice. Two warriors with glaives charged Link's position. He killed them both. Hylian soldiers poured into the breach, and a few more Gerudo fell under the sudden surge. He had to find the princess! Link darted away, leaping from roof-top to roof top, high above the melee. There was another knot of six soldiers, who were backed into an alley by two gerudo with glaives. Link reached for an arrow, but he spotted a much… better solution.

The soldiers were panicking when a falling chamber pot smashed one of the gerudo to the ground. It hadn't been empty.

"Charge!" the sergeant screamed, and the soldiers mobbed the woman still standing, taking her down under a flurry of spears and knives.

Link had almost reached the castle when he saw a dozen mounted figures charging down the castle path. One of them rode a white horse. He recognized Impa's distinctive clothing, and tucked in front of her on the horse was a smaller shape that could only be Princess Zelda. The knights formed a wedge around their princess, and hit Hyrule Castle town at full gallop. Soldiers and Gerudo scattered. Link was hard pressed to keep up with them, even though he was able to take massive shortcuts, ignoring barricades and other… obstacles… on the street level. He was pretty sure Impa had seen him. Link managed to beat the group to the main gate, but he saw two hulking giants, encased in metal, both carrying massive battle axes. They stood, directly in the way, barring the party's progress. The knights yelled, and spurred their horses. The giant warrior on the left stepped forward, cocking its axe back for a two-handed swing. Without a sound, the giant swung, and its axe sliced through the three horses in the front row, passed clean through them, without halting. The knights were thrown violently from the mounts. One had lost a leg to the axe, the second landed badly on his neck, killing him, and the third smashed into a hay cart, his armor protecting him, although not keeping him conscious. The knights behind tried to pull up, but the second giant waded into them, cutting men off their horses with casual ease. Link looked around, frantically. He didn't have anything to kill the giants.

"Link! Farore's wind! Drown them in the moat!" Navi cried frantically.

Link's eyes darted to the water… well, not _directly _kill. Link slipped his bow over his chest, and darted down to the street, sprinting for the drawbridge. He reached inside himself, gathering Farore's wind into his hand. He cast the magic's anchor against the outer wall of the castle, then turned, and sprinted for the iron giants. He held the chord in his mind, ready to pluck. Link ducked and wove through the swinging axes (and they weren't even aiming at him) Link reached out, the giants were almost close enough together to… yes! He touched both of them and struck the chord. With a pop and a swirl of green, the giants and Link disappeared… and were suddenly falling. Link jumped off one of the giants, his fingers snagging the lip of the drawbridge. Below him, the heavily armored giants hit the water like boulders, throwing up huge geysers. They sank straight to the bottom. The armor that had kept them safe would now be their death. Link scrambled onto the drawbridge. Impa and Zelda trotted up on the white horse, "Good job, kokiri!" Zelda exclaimed, "I have the stones," Link told her. Zelda slipped a small drawstring bag into his palm. There was something oblong and heavy in it.

"When you can, get to the Temple of Time!" she told him breathlessly. Link shoved the bag into a pouch on his belt. One of the four knights still riding with the Princess screamed as a purple ball of magic slammed into his back. He toppled, writhing and contorting as a web of purple wrapped around him, squeezing him to death.

"Go!" Link shouted. Impa slapped the white horse's flank. It took off, followed by a knight, while the remaining two wheeled their horses to buy their liege the time to escape. With a roar, they charged the dark man, who was galloping down the street towards them, his hands empty, except for another ball of purple. The brave men attacked in concert. Link realized that they had fought together before, their coordination was impeccable. They backed the sorcerer up the street, harrying his defenses from two different sides… Link pulled his bow out, placing an arrow to the string. One of the knights was a hair slow raising his shield to block one of the attacks, and lost his head to the wicked knife. After that, the second knight fell, cut in half at the waist. Link walked towards the man, who flicked the blood from his knife with lazy contempt,

"Evil one! I have sought thou out, and I challenge thee!" he screamed, the raw hatred in his voice turning the sorcerer's head. Link saw the evil eyes widen in surprise, that his challenger was a kokiri warrior. Then they glinted with anticipation. Link fired his bow, and was surprised when the man deflected the projectile with the flat of his dagger. He hadn't used the energy shield. Link thought quickly, had he used it against the knights? No… he hadn't… maybe… he couldn't?

"You have come far, boy, to die," the man gloated, forgetting who he had been chasing, distracted by the irresistible chance to murder a child of the forest. Link drew a second arrow, aiming at the man's face, which drew a cruel smile from those vile lips.

Link's aim shifted at the last second as he fired, and the man's face twisted in surprise, in the brief moment before his steed toppled, an arrow through its eye… the only part unarmored. The sorcerer scrambled to his feet. Link flicked his stone knife at the man's face with his tail, and as the man's dagger came up to block it, Link fired at the sorcerer's left calf. The magic dagger could not be in two places at once. The stone knife shattered against the blade, but the short arrow found its mark, burrowing itself deep into the lightly armored area. The sorcerer screamed in surprise, then rage. Link slipped his bow across his chest and dove, rolling behind a heavy crate, a moment ahead of a magic blast, which blew the crate into a cloud of splinters and dust… but Link didn't mind. It obscured the sorcerer's vision, giving him the half second he needed to dart into an alley, a magic blast impacted a few inches behind him, barely missing his tail.

Link grinned under his mask. By the time that bastard could find another horse, Zelda would be out of sight. Link had bought her the time she needed… but his mission was not yet complete. He still had to reach the Temple of Time, and the only weapons he carried were a moblin blade, a little magic, a faerie, and his wits.

Link darted through the shadows. Everywhere he went, he saw Hylian soldiers kneeling in little huddles, hands on their helmets, weaponless, with a few Gerudo standing by.

The soldiers were being rounded up, one group at a time, and herded off. They were not his concern… even if he freed them, they would be cut down the moment they ran into a gerudo guard, and even if they escaped the town, the gerudo would hunt them down from horse back. Reluctantly, Link turned his back, and snuck to the center of town. The Temple of Time stood, pristine, and untouchable… the front doors were too exposed to enter unseen, so he climbed up the back of the building's stone wall, and snuck in through the belfry, climbing down the inside, nearly falling a dozen times (the mortar was much tighter for the _interior_ walls.) Link dropped the last fifteen feet, absorbing the impact in a roll. On the ground now, he took a moment to look around.

Haunting music hovered just at the edge of hearing, raising the hairs on the back of his neck… timeless, ageless music. The walls were made of white marble, and the floor was inlaid with a path of rich velvet carpet, colored crimson. This path led to an altar of sorts, made of black marble. Link cautiously approached, and he pulled out the soft silk bag Zelda had handed him. He opened it. Inside was an ocarina, made of strange blue stone, along with a slip of paper. He unrolled the paper, which had writing on it. "Navi?" he asked. The faerie landed on his wrist, and read quickly:

_ Link, Ganon's entourage has attacked the castle. I can hear screaming from my room. In case I do not survive, or cannot fulfill my part, I have decided to enclose these instructions. I earnestly hope you can read… _

_ This is the Ocarina of Time. To open the Door of Time, behind the altar, you must place the spiritual stones into the altar, then play the Song of Ages with the Ocarina of Time. The door will open to the sacred realm… from there, I leave the kingdom in your hands. _

_~Zelda_

below the signature was a crude bar-staff, with seventeen notes hastily scribbled in, and the meter was scribbled as an annotation.

"Okay, Link, first, place the spiritual stones in the altar," Navi instructed. Link set the paper on the altar, and pulled out the stones. Indentations in the marble were shaped to specifically fit each of the stones. After a moment, Link slotted them in correctly.

"Next?" he asked. "Play the ocarina of time… play this song," she whistled a sad, wistful tune. Link listened, memorizing it, and picked up the ocarina, unfamiliar with the instrument. Swiftly he ran through the combinations of holes, until he found the notes he wanted, mentally marking them. Once he had all the notes, he played the song at a one fifth tempo speed, deliberately, feeling out the song. Navi waited impatiently, expecting Gerudo to smash the door down at any moment. Once Link had played through the entire song without mistakes, he took a deep breath, and played the Song of Time. Navi's head jerked up. With the correct tempo, she heard another instrument playing accompaniment, like an echo. What? With a shudder, the massive stone wall behind the altar began to rise.

Link slipped the ocarina back into his wallet, and stepped forward. The means to save the kingdom lay beyond this door. He tucked the princess's note into his tunic, and waited. He looked into the next room, and goosebumps ran up his arms. The next chamber was barren… with a raised dais in the center, and a pedestal… but his eyes were drawn to what was stabbed _into_ the pedestal. A sword. Link stepped forward, as if in a dream. Voices sang around him, whispering to him, asking him, telling him… he heard none of them. Navi hid against Link's shoulder, her eyes almost seeing what swirled around the room. Long dead warriors, and warriors not yet born watched from the edges of the room, united by the sword at the center.

Link ascended the steps, his hand rising, to touch the pommel. Something alien coursed through his thoughts, looking at him. Judging him. It peered into his heart, and Link was powerless. The presence coiled around his mind, no longer rough, and indifferent. It had judged him, and he had not been found wanting. It wrapped itself around his mind gently, almost like a lover.

_**By your will, Hero of Time.**_

Link's fingers tightened around the hilt, strangely familiar… he pulled, and the metal slid smoothly from the stone. His movements had the weight of destiny, and he raised the heavy blade above his head, holding it in both hands, goose bumps rose on his arms and down his spine. Around him, the dais ignited in blue light, rising to the vaulted ceiling. He had found his purpose.

"_He is not ready."_

_**Not yet… **_

_**But soon.**_


	7. Chapter 7 From Ashes We Rise

"_Link…"_

"_Wake up…"_

"_Link, the chosen one…"_

Link gasped, his eyes flashing open. He was on his knees. Someone in an orange robe stood before him. Link looked up. The man was tall, and very… stately. He had a stern face… as soon as he knew Link was looking at him, he spoke, his voice soft, but gravely, holding a tone of command. This was a man who expected others to heed him and obey without question…

_"I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages…_

_Ages ago, we built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm… This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light… which is situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm. This is the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil forces. The Master Sword—the evil-destroying sword you pulled out of the Pedestal of Time—was the final key to the Sacred Realm."_

This was a dream. It had to be.

"_Link… don't be alarmed… but look at yourself…" _

Link looked down, seeing his hands… but they were huge… and a pale white, like the belly of a fish! He lifted them up, gazing at them. His hands… they were encased in sturdy leather gauntlets. Link staggered to his feet, staring down at his clothing. He wasn't wearing kokiri garb. He ran his fingers over it, inspecting it. He was wearing leather knee-boots, with boiled leather greaves strapped over them. Tan colored pants disappeared into the boot tops. His gaze traveled higher. With a jolt, he realized his tail was also… missing.

He was wearing a collard long-sleeve white under shirt, with a simple shirt of steel chainmail over it, but partially concealed under a green short-sleeve tunic. His hands were covered by gloves that left his fingers exposed from the first knuckle down. He flexed them, they were made of supple brown leather. A well crafted (though plain) leather belt was clasped about his waist, fastened with a brass buckle. He ran his fingers across the belt, ringed by leather pouches and small cases attached to it. There was an unaccustomed weight on his left shoulder. He noticed a dual belt baldric was strapped across his chest. A thicker pad of leather capped his shoulder, under the thinner belt, distributing the weight of… whatever was on his back. Link's left hand rose, reaching over his shoulder, but instead of finding the moblin blade… he found a familiar hilt.

The alien presence brushed his mind, like a casual greeting. He pulled the three feet of steel from the scabbard on his back, and balanced the blade in his palms, looking at it in wonder… The blade was 28 inches long, and the entire hilt took up another 8 inches. The crosstree was six inches wide. The blade itself was exotic. The tang was only one and a half inches wide, for roughly 6 inches, then the blade blossomed to two and a half inches in width for the rest of the blade, right to its sharply taper point.

It was beautiful.

The presence smiled, pleased.

Link spied his reflection in the blade, and he held it up, looking at himself. In the narrow reflection… he knew that he had grown, not just becoming taller, but actually aging… he wasn't eleven anymore. Awkwardly, he slipped the sword back into the sheath, not accustomed to its position yet. He would have to practice…

Rauru stepped forward, his veiled hands clasped together, hidden by his sleeves,

_ "The master sword is a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch… Only one worthy of the title "Hero of Time" can pull it from the Pedestal of Time…_

_ However, you were too young to be the Hero of Time… Therefore, your spirit was sealed here for seven years. And now the time has come for you to awaken as the Hero of Time."_

"Seven… seven _years?_" Link asked, terror beginning to bubble up within him. He had been gone for seven years?! Numb, he listened as the Sage continued,

_ "Though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace… Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, used it to enter this forbidden Sacred Realm. He obtained the Triforce from the Temple of Light, and with its power, he became the King of Evil… his evil power radiated from the Temples of Hyrule, and in seven short years, it transformed Hyrule into a world of monsters. My power now has only little influence, even in this Sacred Realm… namely, this Chamber of Sages. But there is still hope…"_

Link lowered his head in shame. He had… doomed Hyrule, not saved it. A world of monsters… he had not opened the Door of Time to bring peace, but to bring death to one man.

_ "The power of the Sages remains. When the power of all the Sages is awakened… The Sages' Seals will contain Ganon's evil in the void of the Realm… I, Rauru, am one of the Sages… and you are the Hero of Time, chosen by the Master Sword!_

_ Find and awaken the other Sages, and add their might to our own! Go now, and save Hyrule!"_

Light coalesced around Link, and he fell to his knees once more, overcome. Light arced around him, like a corona of lightning, and the flicker of fire, combined into a single aura. With a shudder, his knees slammed painfully into cold stone, and he opened his eyes. He was back in the Temple of Time, kneeling before the empty Pedestal of Time. He felt sick, and weak. A blue light flickered from his collar, and Navi appeared, disoriented, "Link, what happened?" she asked.

The young man shook his head, not trusting himself to speak, lest he vomit in this holy place. He stood, and turned, heading for the exit. He would vomit outside. He pushed the huge door open, and lurched outside, wracked by dry heaves.

"Link…" Navi whispered in warning. Link wiped his mouth, and took in his surroundings, nausea forgotten.

Everything was destroyed. He knew it to be day, yet the sky was black as night. The town had been partially razed, and left to disrepair. Rubble was strewn everywhere, and skeletons had been left where they fell.

Navi tried to hide her presence, great evil had been done here, and still lingered... The wind moaned through the town, ugly as rape. Link stiffened. There was no breeze here, "That's not the wind, is it?" Link whispered. In the darkness, he could feel Navi trembling, "I sense great pain, and lingering death, spirits bound to their corpses, unable to rest…" she whispered, terrified. Link slowly drew the Master Sword, and it briefly touched his mind, concerned by his fear. Warmth seeped up his fingers and hand from the sword, a small comfort, but Link knew he was not alone. "Link, we must get out of this place…" Navi urged.

Link didn't argue. In the murky twilight, his footsteps, soft as they were, seemed to echo in his ears. He felt… trapped, in the tight alley way, and something moved in the darkness ahead of him. Discretion is the better part of valor. Link sheathed his sword, and scrambled up one of the destroyed buildings.

Link kept to the edges of the roof, and Navi could see why. The building was a fire gutted shell. Its floors had been burned out, leaving only the stone walls behind. Link leapt, from building to building, and twice, he nearly fell, unused to his new body. He could jump harder and farther, but he couldn't alter his momentum as quickly as he was used to. Below him, Link saw furtive movement in the shadows, and gangly shapes shambling without direction. He knew not what they were, but they couldn't climb, apparently.

Link quickly made his way to the town's outer curtain wall, feeling a sharp sense of déjà vu. Not so long ago, it seemed, he had done just that, following the princess through a war torn town…

The drawbridge had been smashed into the river below, making it impassible… to _cavalry_. Link cautiously descended, drawing his blade, and eyed the murky, stagnant water. The river no longer flowed here, and the water level had dropped by nearly half… but what concerned him, was that unseen things still moved beneath the surface, leaving ripples and bubbles. Link _really_ hated water… but there was nothing for it. Some of the pieces from the drawbridge still poked up out of the water, covered in slimy moss. Before he could reconsider, the young man vaulted out over the water, and landed on a piece of bridge. It was as slippery as it appeared. His boots shot out from under him, and he landed in the water.

Well, six inches of it. Link scrambled to his feet, and dashed along the submerged draw bridge, invisible beneath the water. He could see the V-shaped wakes of things coming towards him. His boot found a hole in the bridge, but his momentum kept him from breaking his ankle. Part of the drawbridge was still on the far side, and had been snapped, a third down its length. It looked almost like a ramp. A very _slippery_ ramp. Link hurdled the last stretch, and after a few seconds scrambling, clambered up and onto dry land. He looked down at the water and saw that it was churning into froth by hundreds of small creatures, which seemed to be mostly bone and teeth. Link shivered, and quickly walked away from the moat. The farther he walked from the cursed ground, the better he felt. Navi finally emerged from his hood, and stood on his shoulder, gazing around.

As they walked, Link quickly told Navi what had happened in the Chamber of the Sages.

"This… Rauru… did he tell you where, or who the other Sages are?" Navi asked, frustrated. Link shook his head, "No… but I don't think he knew… prophecies tend to be rather vague, don't they?"

Navi nodded to herself, "We need guidance, Link," she told him softly.

"Malon's home, the ranch. It is not far from here…" Link suggested. Navi looked at her ward suspiciously, "And you have _no other_ motive for going there?" she enquired pointedly.

"Of course I do. I want to see Malon," Link replied honestly. Seven years, in a world of monsters. His throat was threatening to close up from fear, but he viciously beat it down. Malon was strong. She would have survived.

And if she hadn't… the one responsible was going to _burn_.

Deep within a dead village, something stirred. Wind whistled through the abandoned houses, doors creaked and groaned on ruined hinges. Evil had left its mark here, in this stronghold of the Sheikah… now dead.

Or so Ganondorf should hope… although he might be the King of Darkness, in all kingdoms, there are rebels, hidden in the Shadows.

In the middle of Karkariko village, stood a well, as dead as the village around it. If anyone were to approach the well, they would feel the urge to keep on walking. The weaves of Shadow Magic were so light and well constructed, that not even a wizard would notice the warding. At the bottom of the well, there was a tunnel, which led to an enormous tomb… with the spirit of an Interloper imprisoned within the mortar, never to escape… but it shielded the place from roving magical eyes. It was the heart of the Sheikah…

And the Sheikah's heart still beat with a cold hatred.

"Milady, Aris reports that her raid on the Gerudo supply-line was successful, but she lost three men," a masked woman wearing Sheikah clothing said, a pair of hooked swords strapped to her back. In her palm she held a smooth riverstone, with the symbol of the Sheikah carved in it.

A table, magicked to show realistic terrain and people as motes of sand and shadow dominated the center of the war room. Colored flags stood in clusters, usually in villages and towns, but a few stood at key points along major roads and passes. A cloaked woman leaned over the impressive bit of enchantment, her eyes roaming the terrain, as the map updated, showing the stylized reduction of red flags where the Gerudo supply depot once stood. She was so tired… everyday, they fought, and killed the enemy, yet Ganondorf's hold in her country grew stronger, and more good men and women died.

"Milady?" the Sheikah warrior enquired gently.

Princess Zelda sighed, "I'm sorry, Impa, thank you for telling me. Instruct Aris to take her fighters to this point, here, one mile south of Abrion. Lito, and his fighters should be almost there. Instruct her to signal once she is in position."

The shadow warrior nodded curtly, and stared at the stone, communing across hundreds of miles to another shadow warrior named Aris, who held an identical talisman in her gloved hand.

"You're tired, milady, when was the last time you slept?" a voice rumbled nearby. Zelda glanced at the hulking man in his battered royal armor. Knight-Commander Donovan stood at ease in his lady's presence.

"I don't have time to sleep, commander, things are happening too quickly, and we are at too vital a stage in our plans for mistakes," Zelda snapped.

The bearish man nodded, conceding the point without surrendering his argument, "A good leader knows how to delegate responsibility to those who are able to

shoulder it."

"And am I a good leader?" Zelda asked sharply, a challenge.

Donovan shrugged, "The only one worthy of the name, milady. Sleep. I will stand in your stead."

Zelda waivered for a moment, and the Hylian Knight grinned beneath his helmet, "I taught you of war and strategy, princess. I can manage for a few hours."

Zelda frowned, "Very well, Knight-Commander. I shall retire, for now."

"Truly the voice of wisdom, your highness," Donovan said, his tone serious.

The princess of a conquered land walked through the dimly lit passages of her hidden refuge, nodding to resistance fighters that she passed. A few men were struggling to cook an edible broth in an old helmet over a small flame. Judging by the muted curses, they were not having much luck. They waved to her as she passed.

The alcoves in the walls that had once held ancient bones now contained bedrolls, and sleeping men. Impa had assured Zelda that the dead Sheikah would not begrudge the living sharing their resting place. If anything, it seemed the ghosts and revenants seemed… amused… by the company.

The Princess passed the makeshift infirmary, where Madame Malka, one of the few remaining free-witches, was trying to save the life of a young man, who had lost his left leg at the knee to a moblin sword in the last raid. Despite her skill, and the efforts of the ghosts crowded around the boy, it did not seem that he would see the dawn. The infection had entered his blood, and festered for too long before reaching the witch and her herbs. At least he had stopped screaming, the poppy had dulled his pain.

Weary in both mind, body, and spirit, Zelda found an unoccupied alcove, and slipped onto the thin bedding, quickly falling asleep.

They didn't make it to the ranch by nightfall, but Link continued walking in the darkness. Navi kept her ambient glow hidden. They knew, instinctively, that light would draw the attention and wrath of the things stirring around them… and Link had faith in the power of the Master Sword, but he also knew that it would take a long time to reach the ranch if he had to fight every step of the way… he was surprised though. He hadn't seen any Stalchildren… but a nasty little thought came to him… perhaps something _worse_ had eaten them?

Link did not know what the sound he heard was. At first, it sounded like a wolfos, but the pitch was wrong, the ethereal howl hung suspended in the still night air, a frozen moment before a fall.

"Link, _RUN!_" Navi screamed. Without hesitation, Link surged into a dead sprint. The successors to the Stallchildren were coming… and they were _hungry_. Navi could see the vortices of dark magic that coursed through the bodies of the monsters. They resembled wolfos skeletons, but twice as large. Their bones were layered with strips of rotting meat and fur. Evil burned in their boney eye sockets, hungering to rend quivering, hot flesh with sharp tooth and claw… and they hunted in packs.

_Demon. Condemner. Savior. _

Zelda dreamed a dream she had not had for many years. She stood on high rock in the center of Hyrule. All around her, dark waves covered the land, with the faces of the damned within the accursed water. She knew how this dream went. Within minutes, the waves would rise higher than her rock, and crash over her, tossing her into the sea of clutching talons and teeth, to be torn apart, and dragged to the choking depths.

With resignation, the princess watched the water rise. She kicked her feet on the edge of the rock, impertinently goading the dream to hurry up to its inevitable conclusion.

"Nothing is inevitable, Princess of Destiny," a cold voice whispered behind her. Startled, Zelda looked over her shoulder. A column of swirling shadow, roughly the height of a man, stood, watching her with pinpoints of blazing blue eyes. Zelda felt a moment of… not _safety_, but rather, the feeling of standing behind something dangerous, which was preventing other things from approaching by its mere presence.

"Who are you?" Zelda challenged, rising to her feet.

"Hope."

With a bloodcurdling scream of rage, a shaft of eye-searing light appeared in its hand. The shadow buried the sword into the stone at its feet, and light, brighter than the sun blasted forth from the crack in the rock, beating at Zelda like a sandstorm, slamming against the rising tide of darkness, pushing it back—

"Milady!" a hand shook her shoulder, and Zelda woke abruptly. Donovan had sent a messenger to fetch her, Lito and Aris had reached their objective. Zelda hurried after the runner, but her mind was buzzing from her prophetic dream. Something had changed. She could not shake the feeling that _something_ powerful had awoken, and it held no love for Ganondorf.

And just as the mysterious shadow had promised, Zelda felt the stirrings of hope.

Link was fast, but not even he could outrun the beasts on foot. He spun, placing his back to a sturdy tree, and bared his teeth, adding his own snarl to the mix. The monsters leisurely slowed to a trot, arraying into a wide semi-circle.

"Come on!" he screamed in his native tongue, his sword flaring with a cold blue light. Navi stood on Link's shoulder, fists planted on her hips, _daring_ them to attack.

The biggest of the undead creatures, presumably the leader, chuffed, and two of the pack stepped forward, and attacked.

Nikaru peered into the darkness beyond their shielded campfire. The band of Gerudo had taken shelter in one of the many caves that dotted this green, accursed land. The fire was far enough back within the cave, that its glow would not be seen by the creatures of the night. Huorlin stepped up next to her, leaning on a glaive.

"Do you hear the devil-wolf, sister?"

Nikaru nodded, "They have found meat," she answered. The sentries continued to listen to the sounds that drifted across the plain to the cliffs where they camped.

Sound did not carry here as well as it did in their native homeland, across the sea of sands, but a Gerudo has _excellent _hearing.

Huorlin laughed, "Their meat resists. I hear sounds of pain."

Faint yelps carried on the night air came to rest in their ears. They listened for some time, before the howls, barks, and yelps ceased.

"And in the end, there is only darkness," Nikaru observed. Their path would take them in that direction tomorrow. Perhaps they would learn what had resisted for so long.

Despite the long night, the gerudo were awake, and saddling the horses before first light, departing at a steady canter. Near midday Nikaru drew her horse up sharply, lest they run over the remnants of a devil-wolf. The sun-charred bones stank terribly. She cast her golden eyes across the grassland ahead of her. She could see more of the slain demons, but she saw no sign of their quarry... Nikaru noticed a spindly tree nearby. Its bark had been shredded badly, as if the demons had tried to climb it, to reach some succulent meat. The tracker's eyes lit up. She whistled harshly, and an answering call came from above. The hawk landed on the woman's outstretched arm, wicked talons curling around her leather vambrace. "Seek!" she commanded, and the bird of prey took off.

Link limped through the tall grass. His clothing was torn and bloodied, showing glimpses of chainmail. Without Navi, he would have died from blood loss during the night, but her magic had limits. She was sleeping in his collar, at the moment, exhausted. It looked worse than it was. He had a lot of shallow cuts, deep enough to bleed, but not enough to kill. Two of the wounds had been serious, one to his leg, another on his right shoulder. He'd been forced to poultice and bandage those, after Navi had treated them. Link was only a few hours away from Malon's ranch… if it was still there. He hadn't had time to forage for food, so his stomach was rumbling. To make matters worse, he could hear thunder in the distance. Link glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was cloudless, utterly devoid of detail aside from a circling hawk high above.

Not thunder then. _Hooves_. There was nowhere to hide though. The grass only grew to knee height here, with no rocks or trees. He had crested a hill several minutes ago, which was blocking him from the horsemen's sight. He sighed, and drew his sword, thankful that his left arm hadn't been seriously injured in the fight. He turned, and faced the sounds of the horsemen, master sword propped on his shoulder, as he'd seen Darunia do with his claymore, and tried to emulate the goron's defiant pose.

"Must we always stand our ground?" Navi complained.

"Something has a nasty sense of humor," Link replied calmly. There was no alternative. He couldn't out run them… but maybe he could bluff…

Nikaru was in the lead, and crested the hill first. She saw their quarry less than a hundred feet away. She was startled for a moment. A hooded warrior, in green cloth over chainmail _waited_ for them. His pose was arrogant, one hand on his hip, the other holding a beautiful sword resting on his shoulder, head slightly cocked to one side. Blood had dried in his torn clothing, but the warrior didn't seem to notice it… as if such trivial things as _injuries_ were beneath its contempt.

Nikaru felt a flicker of excitement. A worthy quarry… _finally_. Huorlin was the oldest among them, so she was afforded the first pass. The woman whooped as she kicked her horse into a gallop, whirling her bola over head. The weapon, essentially three chains with weights at the tips, was used for immobilizing. The warrior didn't move. He calmly watched the charging woman, face shrouded by his hood, since his back was to the rising sun. Huorlin loosed her bola, and it hissed through the air like a desert wasp, almost too fast to see. The warrior contemptuously raised his sword. Nikaru smiled, the fool. A chain bola would wrap around a sword and hit the wielder in the face with its weights.

Metal rang, and sparks exploded in front of the warrior… but Nikaru quickly realized that it was sunlight reflecting off the shattered links of the chains. Instead of wrapping around, it had simply been severed…

The warrior returned the sword to his shoulder, resuming his original arrogant pose. That sword… that _beautiful sword_… it had cut their finest steel as easily as if it were rotted leather. Huorlin reined in her horse nearly a hundred feet behind the strange man, and waved her glaive. Six more women made their passes against the man, and tried with similar results to capture him. Finally, only Sejuno, a few months senior to her, remained. Impatient, she decided to skip the traditional bola, and uncoiled her twelve foot whip.

Link fought to hold Darunia's pose. If he showed weakness, or fear, he would die. The seven Gerudo waited some distance behind him, but he had seen that several carried short bows made of some strange wood. It was segmented, and looked eerily… glossy. Two remained to challenge him. One of them grabbed the handle of a weapon on their saddle, and charged. He could not see what kind of weapon it was, and that worried him… but he did not move. She came closer, yellowish eyes burning above her cloth mask, which covered her face from the nose-down. At the last moment, she raised her arm, a whip expertly unfurling behind her, before striking. Link did not have time to raise the sword, but he did raise his right arm. The leather snaked around his vambrace painfully. He could have cut the whip, but he needed to make a statement, to prove his strength. He darted to the side and yanked on the whip. The woman had just come abreast of him. She was braced for a pull, from _behind_, but not from the side. He caught her before she was ready, and she flew sideways out of the saddle, a loop on the whip's handle around her wrist. She landed badly, but quickly stood, drawing a knife from her belt, but Link yanked on the whip again, and she stumbled towards him. Link punched her in the temple with his right elbow, dropping her to the ground. He flicked his right arm, putting as much contempt as he could in the gesture, freeing it of the whip. Link watched the last of the women. She cantered forward, but did not gallop, slowing as she approached. She dismounted sleekly, and checked the unconscious woman.

Nikaru was impressed and exhilarated. Sejuno was an expert with the twelve-foot whip… and this stranger had bested her with as little effort as the older women. Sejuno still breathed, as Nikaru suspected. She stood from her crouch, and drew a pair of cruelly twisting daggers from her belt. She would have the advantage, if she could get inside of his reach. She studied the warrior for a moment, now only fifteen feet away. His clothing seemed too badly bloodied for him to possibly be able to stand. Nikaru frowned… the sun had risen, so he was no monster…

Nikaru darted forward, probing the stranger's defenses. She was not disappointed. He truly was as quick as he appeared. The sword flashed and spun around his body, knocking her blades and attacks aside, nearly killing her twice, despite her rapid defense through offense. They broke apart after the twenty second barrage, eyeing each other. She still couldn't see his face, but there was no doubt that he was male, from the way his chest moved when he breathed. She had tested him, and realized something valuable. He _was_ injured. His impassiveness was a façade, and her estimation of his value grew… as well as the danger.

She felt… _alive_. Nikaru lunged forward, and the dance resumed. Several seconds in, he let one of her daggers slip through, but it slid over the chain mail he wore, in order to deliver a pommel-bash, which caught her in the ribs, winding her. She staggered back, and the warrior did not pursue. She noted that he favored his right shoulder, slightly, as well as his right leg. She recovered her breath, and pounced. Again, their blades met, but this time, she worked him hard, targeting his injuries. She locked her dagger in the cross guard of his sword, pulling it off-true, and her other dagger darted forward… but an iron hand clamped down on her wrist, halting her strike. She strained for only a moment, then snapped her knee up, hitting his injured leg. The warrior's leg buckled beneath him, and Nikaru jumped him, slamming him to the ground, and rammed the pommel of her dagger into his head.

For a moment, she didn't realize that he was unconscious, and put her blade to his throat. The moment dragged on, but the man still wasn't moving. She roughly rolled him over, securing his wrists with leather thongs to the back of his belt. She hobbled him with a chain around his ankles.

Huorlin and the rest of the women approached, congratulating her. Elsin recovered the man's sword, and handed it to her, envious of the marvelous blade… but she had fairly captured him, and all that was his belonged to her now. Nikaru pulled the unconscious man's hood down… he looked to be a few years younger than she, but still a man… barely. A strange green tattoo ran below his left eye, two simple streaks. His hair was a washed-out blonde that seemed to plague Hylians. His face had some scarring, specifically along the forehead, his right cheek, and a small scar on his chin. He was far from ugly though, Nikaru decided, turning his head by the chin, inspecting him. Many of the older women would trade handsomely for him, should she grow tired of her prize, possibly as much as a horse… possibly. She liked his face though… she would keep him, unless given an offer she could not refuse…

The young gerudo woman gazed at her new sword. This though, she would not trade for _anything_.

Impa held the Sheikah gossip stone tightly in her palm, forced to watch the ambush unfold, too far away to do anything to help. An unarmed sheikah stared down the moblin commander, while her fighters fanned out, trapping the raiders against the cliff wall. Everyone ignored the gentle current that tugged at ankles. The other moblins readied their weapons. With a shrieking snarl, the moblins charged. The warrior dove into the mass of enemies, ahead of her men, wielding only fist and foot… but every blow hit with the force of a sledgehammer. Impa smirked. She was forgoing more destructive Shadow magic in favor of simply enhancing her physical attributes.

"There is another group of moblins approaching your rear, Aris," Impa said into the gossip stone. The monk slammed an open palm into one of the moblins, hurling him away with the force of a charging horse, not even bothering to look at her target. Instead, she was looking down the canyon, to where the next group of Moblins was closing. She stalked through the melee, batting moblins aside, intent on the new threat. The second group was nearly three times the size of the group her men were fighting. Her talents with Shadow magic did not lend themselves to large, area of effect type spells, instead, she was a spear, finely focused destruction, instead of a wildfire.

Her tattooed eyes scanned the canyon walls for a solution, and she found it. The young woman smiled mirthlessly behind her mask, and spun her hands, drawing Shadow to her, like a lover. It came, and cloaked her, layer upon layer, a slave to her will. The charging moblins began to slow, catching sight of the pulsating shadows that cloaked this pathetic human. Too late, they saw the all-seeing eye of the Sheikah sigil, and realized their peril.

Aris thrust her finger out, and unleashed the Shadows in a concentrated beam, blasting the cliff face high above, etching a deep furrow along the ancient rock. Then she calmly planted her fists on her hips, watching the Moblins curiously. Nothing happened.

Courage renewed, the monsters resumed their charge, they would kill this shadow warrior, and their master would reward them well—

Aris watched without hurry as the moblins charged, too stupid to realize that the cliff face was slowly beginning to break away. They ran right under it, as Aris had intended. Within moments, seventy monsters died, like insects.

Aris glanced back at her men, who were finishing up with the few moblins still breathing. One young man had eviscerated his enemy, and was now blinding the helpless enemy. If memory served, he was one of the war-orphans, who had been forced to watch his family die by Ganondorf's whim. She thought his methods… unimaginative. With a flick, she sent a rope of shadow slithering along the ground. The tendril darted into the dying moblin, and suddenly, its flesh began to peel back. The boy yelped, and jumped away, watching the moblin as it was slowly turned inside out. Its scream was high and unnatural, in agony no creature was meant to experience and yet live. Aris's magic kept it alive until the very end.

Her men stared at her, slightly unnerved by her actions. She did not care. She'd been forced to bury her mother when she was seventeen. Well, the pieces Aris could find, after the moblins were done raping and then cutting her up, piece by piece. Her mother had lived through the first half of that as well.

Impa watched from the stone, unsurprised by Aris's actions.

"Aris, you cannot waste any more time. Get to your next position," Impa reminded her.

Link dreamed of Malon. He lay in the glade once more, and the girl was still young, carefully wrapping his hurts, and running her fingers cross his shoulders.

Nikaru was worried. Her catch was still unconscious. His body was lean, but the muscle was strong, the mark of an agile warrior. Many of his wounds were shallow, and had been crudely bandaged… but it seemed that he had been bled, heavily, from those wounds, shallow though they were. It was very curious. It had been a full day since his capture. Nikaru wondered what to name him… since these foreigners had such dull, colorless labels. She remembered the color of his eyes, amethyst, just like the jewel… but that was not a good name. She needed something that captured both his mind, and his spirit… she stroked the handle of the sword across her back while she thought.

She froze, in the firelight. The man's eyes had opened… and cold fires burned in them.

She touched the sword again: perhaps she had not caught a man after all. She watched as he slowly tested his bonds, the leather creaking… but his eyes never waivered, his hate burning at her… but Nikaru was no meek Hylian wench. She had fought in six battles. She was a proven warrior of the sands, and now, possessed a man, and an exceptional sword.

She raised her chin, "I am your master," she told him, in stilted Hylian. She hated the language, so lifeless, but it was necessary to speak the language of the conquered, since they were too stupid to learn a better tongue, not yet, anyway.

He did not respond, but had apparently decided that he could not break his bonds.

"Good," she said, as one might praise a horse.

"You are my property now, and we will begin your training immediately," she told him. His eyes dared her to come closer, so that he might wound her in some fashion.

She struck him with the back of her hand, raising a red welt on his cheek, but he made no sound, and glared at her renewed.

"You can live in pain," she told him, then leaned forward, and caressed the other cheek with the back of the hand she had struck him with, "Or you can live happily," she continued. He was quick, but she pulled her fingers away moments ahead of his teeth. She slapped him again, and the man leaned back, kicking her in the chest with his bound feet, throwing her backwards.

Sejuno smirked, watching Nikaru begin the process of breaking in her man. It was rather similar to breaking a stallion, she supposed. From Nikaru's expression, she didn't mind. The challenge simply made the inevitable prize that much sweeter… but there would be bruises in the morning, for both.

The gerudo woman had called it a night, and was now sleeping nearby. Link was securely tied and secured to several stakes. His body throbbed. He had given _almost_ as much as he'd taken, but… she had the Master Sword. Navi was hidden in his hair, and hurriedly translated to him what the guards were saying. Apparently, he was the topic of discussion.

Navi inspected the locking mechanism for his hobble. She felt inside the slot with her hand, peering intently. She could feel only two tumblers… but the leather thongs were a different story. One of the gerudo turned to glance at Link, to check on him, and Navi darted to hide behind his foot. She peeked out, slightly, waiting until the gerudo looked away. She would need to find something sharp, but small enough that she could lift…

She felt so _weak._ There was so much _evil_. It clung to her, like spider-webbing, weighing her down, slowing her… sapping her magic… she felt like she was moving underwater.

Nikaru believed she was making good progress with the man. He no longer tried to bite her, but now, simply ignored her touch. She was surprised how quickly his bruises faded. He seemed to heal remarkably quickly, no matter the injury, it rarely lasted longer than a day. Any daughter she bore from him would be _formidable_. Such a child would inevitably grow to take a place in her Lord Ganondorf's personal guard…

Nikaru inspected the strange instrument from her man's belt. It was made of blue stone, but it felt far too light. She experimentally blew on the stem, but only produced a few harsh notes. Embarrassed, she lowered the instrument.

"I can play," a voice whispered. Surprised, Nikaru glanced at the bound man, who was watching her intently. "Let me play," he said again. Nikaru glanced at the other warriors, but they weren't paying attention, attending their various duties. Slowly, she set the instrument into the bound hands of her man. He could still wrap his fingers around the instrument, and he brought the device to his lips. A quiet, slow song of rolling notes issued forth. It wasn't stirring or even interesting. There was silence for a moment. Then, he began to play, his warm-up complete.

He _played_. Music exploded into life around the camp, and everyone paused to look at the source. Something curious happened. It seemed that a vision came over them, because they could both hear the music, and see something else as well… for although the stood on the blasted earth of the plains, they also ran through the tree tops like children, chasing the wind and the notes of a song only they could hear, laughing and playing. This was the unending childhood, because they would rise with the sun, and do this all over again tomorrow… to do anything else was inconceivable. 

Link played, pouring everything into the music, his despair, hope, anger, frustration… everything. He did not notice the strange expressions on the Gerudo, but Navi did… and she also saw that magic was emanating from the Ocarina of Time, small, weak waves of magic washed over the camp. Navi only caught glimpses, but they seemed to be… memories.

Finally, the song came to an end, and the man lowered the instrument. Nikaru, freed from the spell, was the only one to notice a small tear that traced down his cheek, before dropping invisibly to the dirt. The echoes of the man's music still resonated in her blood, and the proud woman had a moment of weakness. She embraced the man, this time, without guile, simply to comfort. She felt the man tense, and the wall rose again, just as solid and impregnable as before. Rebuffed, Nikaru retreated, slightly stung by the rejection… but only slightly. She had time to wear him down. He would be hers, eventually.

The next day the gerudo band came into sight of the leading edge of the Black-Forest. Years ago, they had tried both fire, and logging to flush the Forest spirits out into the open, to kill them… only to find that some trees could not burn, and turned aside any axe or saw.

The man made a strangled gasp beside Nikaru. She looked over. His jaw was open, horror and shock etched onto his young face, gazing at the expanse of razed forest. A sob escaped him, and Nikaru peered at him intently. She had never seen him show emotion besides anger or hatred. Words tumbled from his lips like tears, or rain drops running down a tree's leaves. Nikaru did not recognize the language, but she knew it wasn't Hylian. The young man wept bitterly for several minutes, and Nikaru felt a pang of sympathy, but that was all. He was a foreigner, and a man. He was just property.


	8. Chapter 8 Ghosts in the Trees

Navi finished using the flake of flint. She'd cut the leather thongs half-way through in six different places, severely reducing their strength, but maintaining the illusion that they were secure. She could unlock the hobble in a matter of moments. The rest… was timing. They were close to the forest edge now. Link watched the gerudo approach him, to begin another night of… _conditioning_. It was tempting to simply submit, for the time being, until he could escape. She wasn't even remotely ugly, and he… well, at the moment, his body was very upset with him… but she had _bound_ him. By kokiri tradition, her life was forfeit… and whatever attraction he might have felt, was buried beneath _layers_ of anger, shame, and hate.

Nikaru crouched before the man, and caressed his cheek with her hand. His eyes were downcast, so she forced his chin up, to look her in the eye. She was startled by the hopeless apathy in them, and felt a pang of fear. She had meant to break him, not crush his spirit… he was no good as a _shell_. She moved closer, worried, and ran her fingers through his hair, but still, she could not find his ire. He hated her touching his hair… but even this was nothing to him… perhaps…

There was a snap, and suddenly, strong hands wrapped around her throat. In that frozen moment, Nikaru realized she had been tricked as she stared into deep amethyst eyes, a purple hell for her soul, filled with hate. He had broken his bonds. With a click, the chain fell from his feet, and he rose into a crouch, still choking her.

"I am kokiri, and I will _never_ be _broken_," he hissed in her face.

There were shouts from nearby, but something had affected her hearing… the pressure vanished, and she gasped, choking. By the time she could look around, she was alone… and her sword was gone. The man had taken _her_ sword, and the baldric from her.

Link hurtled through the night, sprinting for the tree line. The gerudo were excellent archers. He did not even pause long enough to strap his sword on properly, simply running with the scabbard and blade, belt flapping in the wind. A willow cane arrow flashed past his head, but in the next moment, he was safe within the trees.

He was _home_. He paused, twenty yards within the forest, to buckle his sword on. The gerudo refused to enter the forest… what was left of it, anyway. The monsters had cut down and burned the forest… but eventually, they ran into the forest heart, the _Lost Woods_. The trees there had bark harder than steel, which did not burn.

Link spotted a flicker of movement in the boughs overhead. Softly he whistled three notes. For several minutes, nothing happened. Link whistled again. Minutes passed, but this time, a tentative and very soft reply was whistled. Link smiled and gave the correct counter query. Three shapes dropped from the trees, and stood, surrounding Link… which meant there were six more kokiri still in the trees.

Link did not recognize them, which was strange.

"How do you know the tree song?" a small voice demanded harshly, in kokiri.

"Because I am kokiri," Link replied in his native tongue. The small warrior hesitated, "You lie."

Navi crept out of Link's collar, and glowed, slightly. The kokiri's own faerie, an orange hued male, flashed from behind the kokiri's mask.

"How… how?" the kokiri finally finished.

"My name is Link. I left the forest seven years ago, on a mission to kill the Dark-man, who murdered the Great Deku Tree. Navi is my guardian."

The kokiri hesitated, then slowly raised their masks, "You are the Prodigal?" the female on the left asked, stunned. "Where is Mido, and Saria?" Link asked, worried. The three kokiri before him were "new."

The male, obviously the pack leader for this little band of kokiri hesitated, but finally asked, "Who?"

Nikaru gingerly felt the blotchy bruises around her throat. Sejuno carefully inspected the damage, but felt the younger woman would be fine. Her pride had been wounded, and little else. "He is _still_ mine," Nikaru hissed to herself. Sejuno pitied the woman. She had found and lost great wealth in a matter of days. For a warrior from such a poor tribe… Nikaru might have been able to form a tribe of her own, using that sword alone, the man would have simply cemented the clan. To have broken such a stallion… and Sejuno had no doubt that Nikaru would have succeeded, but still, to have such a man at your side, ready to die for you… but the man had fled into the Black-Forest, where demons dwell, disguised as green, masked children. He was dead, and the sword lost among the roots of that accursed forest, where death walked.

Sejuno was surprised when Nikaru stood. She walked over to her horse, and began to pull weapons and equipment off, strapping them onto her belt and back.

"Nikaru, what are you doing?" Sejuno asked.

"When the man choked me, he said he was _kokiri_," the younger woman said.

"All foreigners lie, especially Hylians," Sejuno dismissed.

Nikaru paused for a moment, and looked at her friend, "Do you not remember his music?"

That brought the woman up short. Could a demon grow into the body of a man… or possess one?

"My man is _still_ alive, and _still_ carries my sword. I will find him," she swore.

Sejuno grabbed her friend's wrist, and Nikaru glared at her, "You cannot stop me," she hissed.

The slightly older woman smirked, "I know. I'm coming with you."

"What has happened here?" Link asked, his chest tight. Jallero, the male with the orange faerie, shrugged. "I was found four years ago, Cali, and Wun two years ago. Most of the damage was done the year before I came, according to Jaro."

Link had been shocked to find out that there had only been three kokiri in the band. While scouting, two thirds of the party must always remain in the trees. He had said as much to the kokiri, and realized that they truly were children from the way they colored… but Cali and Wun returned to the boughs.

Cali spoke, "Jaro says that the desert-vipers came, bringing axes, saws, and fire. The moblins helped them… many of us fought to the death, but could not stop them all, and most of the new forest was destroyed… until only the heart-wood remained."

It was as he feared then. The heart wood accounted for only a quarter of the forest… what had once stretched like a green ocean, had been reduced to an island…

"In the war that devastated the land, many children fled to the forest, where the faeries found us. We saw our families killed, or our villages razed," Wun commented. Apparently, he had been thirteen, but the magic of the forest returned him to his eleven year old body, which irritated him, however the addition of a tail offset this. Link missed his tail fiercely.

A wolfos burst out of the ferns ahead, a kokiri on its back. The small bow was pointed squarely at Link's throat. "Jallero, why do you bring an outsider here?" the warrior demanded. Link knew that voice, "Jaro?" he asked, hesitantly. The rider cocked his head, "How do you know me, outsider?"

"Jaro, he is the Prodigal!" Cali squeaked.

"Link?" Jaro asked. Navi glowed in reply, and the rider relaxed, lowering his bow. "It's been… what, seven years?"

Link nodded.

"You got big," his friend teased.

Link was led back to one of the roving campsites the Kokiri used now, to try and patrol what remained of their forest.

"Six months after you left, moblins and women from the desert came to our forest. They demanded our complete, and unconditional surrender… so we sent their messenger back as a pincushion. They didn't like that, so they tried to set fire to the forest… we killed them… but more came. More always came, and eventually, there were too few of us to kill them all…" Jaro eyes were haunted. He had watched friends he'd played with for centuries die. For an immortal, death was not so terrifying, but the grief…

"How many of us are left?" Link asked softly.

Jaro snorted, "There are more of us now, then before the Great Deku tree died, perhaps five dozen, and twice as many skull kids. Most of them have no experience, they're just kids dressed up like kokiri. The Twins, and I are all that remain of the original Kokiri…"

"And me," Link replied softly.

Jaro raised his eyebrow and looked steadily at Link, "You were once a kokiri, and will always remain a kokiri at heart, but your body has grown. You are more Hylian, than Kokiri now. The magic of the Forest has been… overshadowed."

Link sighed and looked away. He knew his friend was right, and returned to his meal.

"How do the children not know of Saria, or Mido?" Link asked quietly, dreading the answer. Jaro looked at him with pity, "Six years ago, Saria disappeared near the Forest Temple. Mido led a group of kokiri in a search for his mate. None returned. No one who has entered the old temple has ever come back out… and evil spreads from it. No seed will sprout within the soil of our forest, the birds do not roost here, and many of the animals that burrow and scurry shun our woods."

"The temple, you say?" Link said, speculatively. Jaro caught the gleam in his old friend's eye, "No Link, I will not lose another soul to that damned pile of rocks."

Link turned his gaze back on his friend, "Jaro, do you know what blade I carry?" Slowly, he drew the blade out, and it seemed to ring in the sudden silence. Everyone in the camp stared at the sword.

"It is the Master Sword," Link told him softly. Jaro reached out, as if to touch it, but drew his hand back, chagrined. He dare not touch it, for his hand had not been chosen to wield The Sword.

"Only those with evil in their heart cannot touch the sword," Link told him, the sword balanced across his palms. Hesitantly, Jaro reached out, and placed the tip of his finger against the elegant crossguard. He felt a… presence, vast, like a mountain, or ocean stir at his touch, and it took idle notice of him. Jaro cowered before the alien gaze, as he was judged, and his knees buckled when the cold eyes of justice saw that he was a creature of the Law. It gave him a cordial nod, then dismissed the trembling kokiri.

Jaro stared up at Link's face. There was a steadiness and determination in his eyes that Jaro had never really noticed before, this young man was a _rock_ now, if he hadn't been before.

"I will find my mother, and my father," Link said softly, sheathing The Sword.

A commotion started at one end of the camp, and Link stood. Scruffy warriors were carrying a third shape between them, obviously injured.

"It's Sandra's group," Jaro said. They came closer, and Link could hear what the injured one was saying. None of it made sense though, she was babbling about the Forest Temple. "Where's her faerie?" Jaro asked, aghast. One of the warriors carrying the girl shook his head, tersely, "Dead."

Navi trembled in Link's collar. Faeries were hard to kill. The only means was by hostile magic, or expending all of their own magic.

The girl was missing one of her arms at the elbow, but it had not been healed, only crudely wrapped. "Why hasn't she been healed?" Link asked Jaro. The older Kokiri shrugged, "The evil that coats this land saps the strength of our faeries. Even minor healing is taxing, and potentially fatal to them. For so great an injury, we dare not risk them."

He turned his glare on the survivors, "Why did you enter the Forest Temple!" he demanded.

"We did not deviate from our patrol route." The leader protested, and his second nodded rapidly.

"The evil is spreading," Link stated. Jaro cursed, but agreed, squaring his small shoulders. He spun to face those in his camp,

"An evil wind blows from the Forest Temple… it has claimed the lives of our kin, and weakens our guardians. For too long, we have stood by, and tried to ignore the evil in the heart of our own forest… and now, it may be too late. But we must try. If we fail, then this forest will become a place of darkness, misery, and horror… its remaining beauty will be expunged, and the Dark-man will have finally won," Jaro roared. The assembled kokiri listened mutely, a few nodding grimly.

"I will take a band of volunteers into the heart of this darkness, and we will destroy this evil, or die in the attempt, but we will _not_ roll over and die!" Jaro finished.

Ragged cheers reverberated through the campsite, full of frustration, fear, and most importantly, hope. Before they left though, Link stroked the bark of a nearby tree he recalled from before he left the forest.

Link was in the middle of the procession, on the ground. His boots and size made travel through the tree tops impractical.

The party emerged into the Sacred Grove, and stared up at the massive stone temple… in the middle of a forest. Vines and creepers had grown over the sharply steeped roof, but they seemed to caress, rather than constrict, the stone.

The steps leading up to the ancient stone edifice had crumbled, but to a people like the kokiri, nearly anything can be climbed.

They paused on the small ledge immediately outside the structure. "Link take point," Jaro whispered. The kokiri fell into a loose arrowhead formation, three on either side of the young man.

The master sword whispered in his mind, warning him of nearby evil. Link shivered slightly. The presence in his head was no longer warm, or loving… it had become an icy razor… the master sword was evil's bane.

The presence was reassuring to him though. He was not alone... but it was more than that. Link struggled for a moment to quantify the feeling, and finally, he had it. The master sword had destroyed evil greater than this. It was not impressed, but it was determined to exterminate this blight.

"There is great evil here…" Navi whispered. So close to the source of the darkness, it felt as if her own weight was crushing her. She could barely summon the strength to stand, let alone fly. She saw that the other faeries were similarly affected. Navi was so tired…

"Eyes open," Jaro signed, "The guardians can't watch our backs."

Evil stirred in its lair. Sightless eyes opened, peering through rock and space. Intruders had entered its domain, challenging its dark sovereignty. A tendril of will seeped out, and touched the insects… more of the stunted forest waifs. It flicked a feverish tongue across sharp teeth… such delicious morsels… and they screamed so prettily… The tendril touched the seventh member of the intruders, and something lashed out, sending pain flaring through the monster's probe. It screamed, in both fear and pain, the _Lady_ was here!

Link halted, throwing his hood back; it muffled his hearing slightly, and he had thought he'd heard something… apparently the kokiri had too, because they were frozen like spiders, only their dark eyes moving, inspecting their surroundings. Whatever it was did not repeat, but the kokiri did not move. They were ambush predators. Link felt the master sword urging him to move though: whatever dwelled in this place had become aware of them, stealth was irrelevant.

"Jaro," Link said in a quiet voice, startling his friend, "It knows we are here."

Jaro's eyes tightened, not in fear, but frustration. A kokiri's primary advantage was stealth and surprise. Without them, their small size began to work against them… but it explained why the others had not escaped.

They moved deeper into the darkness, through the vaulted antechamber, and into the temple's main hall… It had been carved from a single piece of stone, without mortar, or blemish… perhaps with magic. It felt like an amphitheatre, several levels surrounding a central bowl. Balconies had been cut high above, near the ceiling, but they were almost lost in the shadows, the faeries' glows could not illuminate that far… but Link could feel hostile eyes upon him, and the furtive, shadowy movements on the balconies were not just his imagination. "Can you tell what they are?" Jaro asked. Link shook his head.

Jaro signed, and the kokiri shifted formation around Link, to cover attack from any possible direction.

"The Light-stone has been removed," Jaro whispered, pointing to a heavily engraved disc of bronze in the center of the room. It was nearly three feet in diameter, and had a conspicuously empty recession at _its_ center, large enough to hold a ball the size of a kokiri's fist.

"Without the Light-stone, the portal is sealed to the lower levels," Navi realized.

They needed to search the temple…

Link nodded his chin towards one of the hallways that branched from the room on the ground level, "Let's try that way," he said. The group started across the huge room, warily watching the shadows. The attack came from the left.

The kokiri reacted instantly. Spears were raised, and bows fired… but the sudden swarm of monsters was hardly slowed. Link cut one in half. He caught glimpses of fiery eyes, and bat wings, mounted to sharp toothed skulls. The arrows were harmless to the fiends… but spear buttes have a way of smashing desiccated bone. As soon as they had come, the swarm melted away, back into the shadows. The enemy was simply probing their defenses. Some of the kokiri were bleeding, but nothing serious. Link glanced down at the destroyed monsters, taking a closer look. Some kind of animal skull had sharp bat wings mounted where the ear holes would have been.

Nikaru glanced over at her friend. They stood at the mouth of the forest-demon's temple. From inside the darkness, distant shouts and weapons clanged, echoing off the hard stone walls. Sejuno lit her torch, and drew a short sword grimly. Nikaru propped her glaive against the wall so she could string her bow, and slipped it onto her back, in case she had to use it suddenly.

"We now risk death for want of a man," Sejuno commented with almost a smirk. Nikaru glowered, "For a _sword_," she hissed.

"In that case, can I have the man, if you get the sword?" Sejuno teased.

Nikaru bristled, "You can _borrow _the man, but he's still mine."

"Agreed," Sejuno whispered, and the two friends slipped into the dark.

"On the left, on the left!" Link barked, directing two of the kokiri against a charging skulltulla, nearly four times bigger than the ones he'd faced inside the Great Deku tree. Link returned his attention to his primary opponent in time to block the undead warrior's sword. Link had heard of Stalfos warriors before; malignant spirits, possessing the bones of long dead warriors… with the skills and strength of the fallen. This warrior carried a long sword and targe (a large, heavy round shield). Its offense was impressive, but Link was more interested in how well it could block… He worked his opponent's blade up high, then cut at a bony ankle. The animated bones darted back, impossibly quick. It chattered its jaw at Link, obviously attempting to emulate laughter.

Link tripped, and the skeleton lunged forward, without hesitation, intent on its kill-stroke… but the young man wasn't finished yet. He kicked his enemy's sword off-target, sweeping his own blade into the Stalfos. The possessed remains lost an arm at the elbow, despite dodging most of the strike. Link smoothly rolled off his back, settling onto the balls of his feet. The skeleton had lost its shield and arm. It turned sword-side-on to the young hero, presenting its profile, and held the rusting blade in a deceptively relaxed guard. Link wasn't fooled. He advanced cautiously, probing the undead warrior's defenses conservatively. Around him, he was aware that the Kokiri had finished off the lesser enemies, and were now idly watching the duel.

It was unimportant. They would not interfere. In that split second of distraction, the Stalfos struck. Without its heavy shield, the skeleton was even faster than before. Link barely parried the heavy strike, bleeding off the sword's momentum with a sliding spin, and by accident more than design, hewed the skeleton in half when it dodged the wrong way. The rib cage, arm, and skull glared hatefully up at the hero, and tried to strike him with its sword, but Link blocked the weak strike, and took its hand off at the wrist. Link mercilessly hacked the defenseless enemy into disarticulated pieces of bone and tattered clothing, and scattered the pieces all over the room with several kicks. He treated it like he would a very large Stalkid, and erred on the side of excessive force.

"Well, he _was_ a big one, wasn't he?" Jaro commented, looking at the scattered Stalfos. One of the kokiri, Evan, Link thought, was limping from a nasty cut across his thigh. He leaned against the wall while he adjusted the crude bandage wrapped around the injury.

"We've searched the east wing," Jaro commented, scratching his chin, "Should probably double back, and check the west wing now-"

A spear clattered to the stone floor, and everyone spun. Evan's spear slowly rolled across the sloped floor.

"Where'd he go? Did anyone see?" Jaro roared, searching the room. The other kokiri shook their head 'looked away for a second' or 'I wasn't looking' or 'sorry,' issued forth from the other children. They were scared now, their tails touching each other for comfort.

"My god: look at the mirror," Link breathed. An ornately framed and gilded mirror was built into the stone wall. Blood was leaking from the bottom of the frame, the rapid drip-drip-drip and quantity of a fatal injury… and it looked as if the surface was rippling slightly, like the recently disturbed surface of a tranquil pool.

"Back up, away from the looking glass!" Jaro barked. The blood was beginning to pool rapidly beneath the mirror.

Goose bumps rose on Link's arms, an almost painful sensation, and a presence moved among them. It spoke of murder, and things that lurk in the darkness, all of your personal fears, which only seem to strike when the lights go out…

The glow from the faeries seemed to dim further… flesh crawling whispers crept at the edge of awareness, nameless, mind numbing horrors. Everyone was petrified with the knowledge that soon the faeries' lights would wink out, and that Something would come for them in the dark… that there was nothing they could do about it, that-

"Enough!" Link roared, the master sword igniting his mind, breaking the bewitchment. He pumped magic into the blade, which flared with cold, blue light, illuminating the small room, banishing the shadows. With a feral scream, he smashed Evil's bane into the mirror, shattering it. Something shrieked in their minds, and the presence departed like shadows before the sun. The light from the faeries brightened, and everyone gasped, having remembered to breathe.

"The hell with this!" Jaro sputtered to himself. Link agreed, but he knew no one in the room would turn back… they couldn't leave Saria in the clutches of such a… creature… and if it had killed her, then they would kill it, or die trying.

Most of them were pessimistically certain it would be the later… but that made them no less stubborn, or determined.

Natalie picked up Evan's spear, slipping her bow across her chest… making Link proud of his heritage.

The Evil licked its wounds, and sucked the bones of the forest waif, savoring the aftertaste of terror. The Lady had injured it, but the Evil was evasive and quick… soon, it would whittle away the rest of the forest waifs, until only the wielder of the Lady remained… the Evil had felt the wielder waiver, and knew that it would triumph…

For without a wielder, the Lady was nothing.

Link crouched amid the shattered pieces of glass. One of them was glowing. He picked it up, and a drop of light, like dew, fell from it, and into his gloved hand. Jaro inspected the droplet, before it fell to the ground. Like beads of mercury, more droplets began to run together. Everyone watched, silently, as a small glowing stone of pale light, like a fallen star, took shape. It was no larger than a smooth river pebble.

"Well, we have _part_ of the Light-stone," Jaro commented sarcastically, glancing angrily at the puddle of Evan's blood.

Link touched his friend on the shoulder, "Evan did not die in vain. We _will_ find Saria, and kill this creature." The quiet intensity in the hero's voice struck a chord in the feisty warrior's heart, "Damn right we will… and we're putting its head on a damned _stick_,"

"Nikaru… we are not alone…" Sejuno whispered. They had entered a grand, echoing chamber, obviously the heart of the temple. _Things_ moved in the shadows, skirting the ring of light from Sejuno's torch. The light seemed to repel them, as if it was a solid barrier to the furtive creatures. "We should not have come here," Sejuno hissed.

The Evil considered the morsels from the desert. Darkness curled within them, but that did not make them kin, or even off-limits. For a moment, it hungered to taste their blood, but then, it divined their intent. They sought to seize the Lady from the wielder, and bear her away. This… the Evil considered the advantages… and once the Lady left the wielder, the desert morsels could be safely eaten, unable to wield the Lady.

"Courage, Sejuno. We are Gerudo. The sooner we find my sword, the sooner we depart from this accursed place," Nikaru argued.

In that moment, something extinguished the torch, and things came for them in the dark. Nikaru felt a cold presence at the nape of her neck, breathing on her. A silky whisper came to her; it promised her many things, this dread-thing that came for her in the dark. It promised Power, it promised wealth. It would give her the tools necessary to achieve Greatness and glory… in return… it asked for only one thing, and Nikaru was listening _very_ intently.

Link squinted into the dark. "Spread out. Dim the lights, and draw it in." Link left the master sword on his back, his hands empty. Something had been stalking them for the last three chambers, but it refused to directly confront them. Jaro had nearly been killed by a falling stone though, and other kokiri had narrowly avoided fatal "accidents" of their own.

"It's approaching," Navi whispered in Link's ear. He still couldn't see it, and wondered if perhaps it was invisible. Mist crawled along the floor towards him, curling around his boots. He continued to watch and wait. A shape began to form in the mist, a hunched, broken thing. Vaguely humanoid, the hazy limbs had broken and healed horribly wrong, almost giving it a crab-like stance.

"Come, creature, I will release you," Link promised, sword still in its scabbard. Sightless, rotted eyes in a skeletal face slowly turned to look at him, then screamed and the monster threw itself at the hero, flashing into substance. Link did not have time to draw the sword, but he struck the apparition with his gloved right hand while his left drew his blade.

It felt like he hit something… but then his hand passed right through, barely halted, and the ghost vanished. Link slowly glanced around the room. It was invisible, but not gone. He had only a moment's warning from Navi. The ghost rematerialized behind him in the blink of an eye, talons raking his chainmail savagely. Link stumbled forward, and awkwardly slashed behind himself, nearly nicking the ghost, before it vanished again. He spun slowly, noticing the wide eyes of the kokiri standing well back from him. He felt a sudden wind, and smiled grimly, stabbing the sword in a reverse grip behind him, impaling the ghost through its chest. He turned to look it in the eye as the master sword meticulously tore the astral presence apart. When you only attack from behind… you become predictable. The rotted eyes glared their hate and malice at him, before the cold white fire ate them like parchment devoured by a flame.

Link realized he was bleeding, and that it hurt, a few seconds later.

"I'm bleeding," Link admitted, but Jaro was already hurrying forward, "We know, its spreading all over your back," Within seconds, the skilled kokiri had lifted the intact chainmail up past the wound. The ghost had passed right through the armor, and cut the skin directly. "What was that?" Link asked to distract himself from the stinging ointment and coarse bandages.

"Some kind of specter, or ghost," one of the kokiri suggested, Link thought his name was Ivan, or Ian.

"No…" Navi interrupted, "It was a Poe. Only they have the strength, and the desire, to harm the living." She came off sounding cross, but she was really just tired. The kokiri boy glanced at his feet, clearly believing he had been rebuked.

A minute later, Link was patched up, more or less. The long, deep gashes had cut down to the muscle like a skinner's knife, but had not actually damaged the muscle, making them extremely painful, but they didn't affect his movements, technically.

Link counted quickly, and was relieved that all five of the surviving kokiri were still present. Link had expected the Poe to simply be a distraction.

Ivan/Ian knelt, and picked up a small stone, which was glowing faintly. "Give it here, lad," Jaro said, and caught the tossed stone. He pulled the other stone from his pocket, and placed them together on his palm. With a sharp clicking noise, the two shards snapped together, into a single, larger, ball. Jaro inspected the resulting stone, "That should do it," he decided.

The group quickly back tracked to the great hall, expecting an attack at any moment… but none came. Jaro set the Light stone down in the center of the bronze plate, and the stone melted, filling in the channels with warm star-light. The plate began to hum, signaling that the portal was once more open.

"So, who'll go first?" Jaro speculated, looking at Link. "Let's all go at once," Link suggested, but Jaro shook his head, "Two at a time is the most the portal can handle."

The kokiri quickly paired off, Natalie grabbed Link's hand, earning a stung look from Ivan/Ian, apparently her mate. Link and Natalie stepped forward, onto the portal. The plate hummed loudly, almost becoming a whine, before Link felt his center of gravity violently shift, and opened his eyes. He dared not let go of his companion's hand.

They were standing in some kind of… hallway… but it was twisted tightly, and at impossible angles.

"Where are we?" Natalie asked, her voice eerily distorted.

"I don't know, but we should keep moving," Link said, his voice affected as well.

They walked down the corridor, and gravity twisted along with the hallway, so that their feet never left the carpet, even as they walked on the walls and ceiling. Behind them, a muffled curse vibrated, and the pair turned to look. The two kokiri Link didn't recognize had appeared at one end of the passage, and were clinging to the thick red carpet, completely disorientated.

Once they realized that they would not fall, the two quickly took heart, and trotted to Link.

Jaro and his partner popped into existence, and Link knew something was wrong. "Damn it, Ian! I said to duck!" Jaro roared, helping the wounded kokiri down the hall, barely noticing, or caring, that it was royally screwed up. Ian was hunched over; clutching the arrow that had hit him in the belly. The injury wasn't fatal, since kokiri are immune to infection and illness, but it would definitely hurt.

"What happened?" Link demanded, only a moment ahead of Natalie.

"What the hell are _Gerudo_ doing in a haunted Forest Temple?" Jaro demanded, nodding sharply to the other two Kokiri, who leveled their bows, ready to fire on any pursuers.

"We climbed onto the portal, and as it starts humming, I saw something wrong. I told Ian to duck, but it took him a moment too long to react," Jaro curtly recounted.

"Are you sure they were gerudo?" Link clarified.

"Who else uses willow cane arrows?" Jaro growled, pointing to the arrow in question.

"Why only wound?" Sejuno asked, lowering her bow. Nikaru smiled wolfishly, "They will not leave one of their own behind, unless dead. The injured one will slow them down, distract them, make noise…"

Sejuno grinned in reply, understanding the other woman's logic. The Voice whispered to Nikaru, telling her it was time to enter the portal.

Link led the grim band of kokiri deeper, and they left the strange corridor behind, emerging into a dark, echoing place. Water dripped loudly nearby, and the cold, wet stones were slimy with lichen. In the dim glow of the faeries, Link saw that the chamber was a multi-level maze of tunnels and bridges that cut through the rock.

"Searching this is going to be a right bastard…" Jaro muttered.

"Stay together," Link reminded them, and they set off slowly, Ian roughly bandaged, and refusing to make a noise. He had not been a kokiri long, but he was still a child of the forest. They entered the first passage available to them, ignoring the cold drops of water that fell.

A rumble shook the tunnel, and Link glanced up, "Look out!" he dove forward, barely avoiding a falling slab of stone. He hastily scrambled to his feet. Ian was curled up on the ground, rocking in pain. He had jumped too, and was regretting it now. The other kokiri were cut off, on the other side of the slab, which had cracked slightly, leaving a sliver of space between one of the walls.

"Link, are you okay?" Jaro coughed from the other side.

"Yes. I have Ian with me," Link replied.

"Good. I'll take the others, and try to find a way around…" Jaro didn't sound too confident of that occurring, but he'd try anyway.

Link rubbed his eyes tiredly. This night would not _end_. "I can walk… Prodigal," Ian whispered. They slowly crept deeper into the maze.

"We've _passed_ this corner before!" Natalie protested, pointing to the notches in the stone from Jaro's blade. "Maybe we have, and maybe we haven't. Those marks aren't mine. Something is _playing_ with us," Jaro replied. Stubbornly the little warrior continued on, Natalie at his elbow, George and Reman walking backwards, covering the rear. The tunnel walls rumbled again, "Stick together!" Jaro cried, but it was no use. The slab smashed down, blocking the corridor. Reman was trapped on the other side, alone "Hold on, boy, we'll work our way around to you," Jaro promised.

Moments later, the isolated kokiri began to scream.

Link frowned, looking at the ceiling, not the floor. The part of the maze they had entered was extremely large, and the ceiling had strange contours to it. Ian crouched while Link stood, grateful for the break. Navi stirred weakly in his collar before slipping unconscious once more.

Link was terrified that the faeries would die before they could find and kill the fiend. The master sword urged him onwards, like the needle of a compass, pulling him towards the center of the maze. The prize was at the center. Link remained where he was though. Something felt wrong, in this room, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He glanced at his feet and noticed a familiar pattern on the floor. Where had he seen that arrangement of dots? Frustrated, he glared at the ceiling, and his heart froze. The ceiling had an arrangement of holes in the same shape as the arrangement of rocky cones on the floor. Link saw other similarities between ceiling and floor. The "ceiling" was a trap, and could fall, if triggered… Link sighed, and crouched down, tracing the runic sigil of Farore's Wind onto the stone. It briefly glowed a warm green color before fading from the sight. Link felt a large chunk of his stored magic flow into the spell. "Stay here, but get ready to run…" Link told Ian, who watched him warily. Link held the woven strand of the spell tightly in his mind, ready to release it at a moment's notice; then he started to walk across the chamber, his nerves jangling. Link made it half-way across. Then the stone beneath his left boot shifted slightly, with a click. He let go of the strand, and the magic snapped him like a whip, back to where he'd placed the sigil. The ceiling crashed down with a thunderous BOOM, making Link's ears and head hurt… not to mention rattling his teeth.

Link glanced over at Ian, whose eyes were _really _wide behind his mask.

"How… how…?" he stuttered.

Link smirked and winked at him, "Prodigal, remember?"

Ian's jaw snapped shut with a click. Right… he was the Prodigal… the only Kokiri to ever leave the forest and survive.

"And just what the _hell_ is this thing supposed to be?" Jaro demanded, looking down at… well, he wasn't actually sure. Natalie shrugged, she didn't know either. The chamber was circular, and aside from the narrow ledge they stood upon, filled with some kind of molten… metal? Stone? Magic? She didn't know, but this chamber was just as damp and chilly as the others, so she was thinking magic… probably.

The fluid was churning, slowly, like a giant cauldron in a clockwise motion. Three stone platforms rode along on the surface freely. Jaro could make out another ledge on the far side of the chamber, and had a passageway cut into it. "We've got to get across like billy-frogs," Natalie suggested. Unfortunately Jaro had to agree. "I'll go first," Jaro decided. He clutched his spear tightly, and double checked that all of his straps were tied, and pocket flaps tucked in. He leaned out, and probed one of the platforms as it passed, and it didn't sink beneath the spear's weight.

That was only a _small_ comfort. He hesitated a moment longer, then jumped onto the nearest platform. It bobbed dangerously beneath him, threatening to flip over, but after several nerve-wracking seconds, he managed to balance out the platform. He slowly swirled around the chamber, and tensed, ready to jump to the approaching ledge.

Natalie watched from the far side, heart in her throat.

"Natalie, you go next," George insisted quietly.

"No, I'm a better fighter, if something comes, I'll be able to handle it," Natalie insisted. George stepped close to her, "Nat, my family is dead. I watched it happen. I'm numb. You and Ian though, you can love, I can't, not anymore. When you volunteered, Ian had to as well, or risk losing you. I promised him to keep both of you alive, whatever it took. I'm already dead inside."

Natalie saw the grim emptiness in her friend, and shivered. She had never noticed how listless he looked.

"What about Seri?" Natalie demanded, gesturing to his comatose faerie.

George shrugged, "We already discussed it. I asked if she would be willing to adopt Pamela, since her faerie is dead, if I die."

Natalie glared, "This was a suicide mission for you, wasn't it? Win or lose, you don't plan to walk away."

George shrugged, unrepentant, and gently held his faerie out to Natalie.

"You're a coward, George. Death is the easy way out," Natalie snarled.

"Nat… I have nothing to live for, except for you and Ian. Dying scares the hell out of me, but not nearly as much as living without one, or both of you. It's been three _years_, and I _still_ can't sleep without the nightmares, if anything, they're getting worse," Georges eyes were haunted.

Natalie took Seri, and slipped her into a pocket on her belt. "_Fine_."

The girl angrily wiped away tears from under her mask, and stood on the ledge, ready to jump onto the next platform.

"Nat, I'm not going to die easy. The longer I stay alive, the longer I can keep you safe," George told her quietly, which _strangely_ didn't make her feel any better.

She jumped out onto the slowly moving platforms, and rode it uneasily.

George stood as a sentinel, watching both Natalie, and the passage way alternately. He saw something coil beneath the surface of the molten liquid, and cried out a warning, dropping his spear, and snatching his bow and an arrow off his back.

Natalie crouched, Evan's spear leveled. An arrow hissed through the air, and stabbed into the liquid. Something screamed, which Natalie felt through the soles of her feet more than heard. She glanced at the far ledge, which was approaching _slowly_. Jaro also had his bow out, and was shooting rapidly at something under the surface. She couldn't see it from her angle, but she didn't doubt it was coming for her. The fairly placid surface of the liquid heaved and frothed as something surged to the surface.

Natalie stared in shock at the monster. It looked like a giant deku baba (imagine a venus fly trap, but with more attitude, bigger, bad breath, and able to move its jaws to _actively _target meat.)

The creature turned its jaws towards George, who was screaming things and making a lot of movement. Deku baba are _mostly_ blind; they hunt by vibration, sounds, and rely on sensing movement. As long as Natalie remained motionless, the creature wouldn't be able to see her. But this creature was not truly a Deku baba, because slowly, ponderously, the jaws turned towards her and slowly opened, revealing rows of sharp, thorny spines that served as its teeth. Natalie raised the spear, knowing if it lunged, it would ignore the weapon.

"Hey!" George shouted, and Natalie realized that he had jumped out onto one of the platforms, and was laying two arrows on the string at a time, more concerned with getting its attention than killing it. The deku baba monster ignored him, and lunged at Natalie. She sneered beneath her mask, terrified, but also in control. She had a plan.

Jaro was busy cursing under his breath, the damned _kids_ were going to get themselves _killed_. The monster snapped at Natalie, who jumped forward _into_ the jaws, and jammed her spear inside, wedging the jaws open, and then she smoothly back-flipped onto the platform she had just left, nearly toppling the precariously floating stone.

"Damn," Jaro praised. A few seconds later, Natalie was close enough to jump for the ledge. Jaro caught her outstretched hand, and yanked her up beside him. George calmly rode the platform, standing tall, waiting to reach the edge. The deku baba was still choking on the spear in its jaws, trying to snap the sturdy wood.

A willow cane arrow hissed through the air, and into George's back, bringing the child to his knees. "George!" Natalie screamed. The wounded kokiri raised his head. He was close to the ledge now. With a groan, he stood, and jumped for the ledge. Natalie grabbed his outstretched left hand, and Jaro grabbed her waist, and his tail wrapped around a spur of rock in the floor, anchoring them. Another arrow hissed past, barely missing them. "Pull, damn it!" Jaro screamed, and they dragged George down the passageway, until they turned a corner.

George coughed up blood, and Natalie raised his mask. His pinched features were a paler green than normal. The arrow had hit with such force that the head was poking out the front of his chest.

"It pierced a lung. That's all. Two more inches to the left, or at a slightly different angle and it would have hit the heart…" Jaro whispered. He was going to kill some Gerudo bitches if they came across.

"George!" Natalie barked, and Jaro's gaze snapped back to the wounded kokiri. He'd broken the tail and head off the arrow, flush with his skin, "Damn it boy, what are you doing!"

"If you pull the arrow out, I can't fight," George explained stiffly.

"_Damn it…"_ Jaro drew the word out, shoving all of his anger and frustration into the curse. Angrily, Natalie wrapped up his injury, which was an exercise in futility. He would just bleed _less_.

"The Forest Demons are hard to kill," Nikaru observed, a touch of respect in her voice. Sejuno shrugged, she had missed the heart. To be fair it was a difficult shot, but that did not change the fact that she had missed.

The Whisper told her of another route, one that was much safer, and would let them get ahead of the kokiri.

Link gritted his teeth, and shoved the Stalfos back, making it stumble on the narrow ledge. Ian stood behind, shooting the pack of small Skulltullas trying to swarm them. It was an impossible situation, or so it appeared. This bony warrior carried only a two-handed axe, which although powerful, was awkward to wield on such a ledge. Ian concentrated on his task, his belly on fire from more than rage. Behind him, the Prodigal was locked in combat with another terrifying Stalfos, but Ian blocked out the grunts and clashes. He needed to keep his focus. He shot two more Skulltullas, and reached for his next arrow, but his fingers found nothing. His quiver was empty. Nine skulltullas still moved, and Ian swatted one off the ledge with his useless bow, losing his grip on it in the process. He drew his knife, crouched, daring the monsters to approach.

Link snarled in triumph, levering his body, and sword. The off-balance Stalfos seemed to hang in mid-air for a moment, before gravity sank its talons into the monster and dragged it down into the darkness far, far below. Link never heard it hit the bottom. He turned, and saw that Ian was in trouble. The wounded kokiri had killed several spiders, but a half-dozen were threatening to overwhelm him, and with suicidal single-mindedness, drag him over the side of the ledge. Link reached over the kokiri, and stabbed his much longer blade into a spider, tossing the skewered spider off the ledge with an efficient flick. In a matter of moments, they mopped up the survivors, and Ian awkwardly sat down, clutching his belly tightly.

Link picked him up, and quickly carried him to solid ground on the far side.

"You fought well, Ian. Natalie will be proud," Link told him softly.

"Great," Natalie complained, staring at the next passage. The floor had collapsed, revealing a possibly _endless_ chasm. The faerie's glows could not travel far. A ledge of sorts existed along one wall of the passage, but it was barely two inches wide. The mortar had crumbled in some of the stones of the wall though, presenting potential hand-holds… but they would be defenseless while they worked their way across. The passage was nearly ten meters long.

George chuckled sickly, "I will stay." He pulled the few arrows he had left from his quiver, and presented them to his friends.

"No George, we'll rig some way to-" Natalie protested, but Jaro cut her off.

"No," he said heavily, cutting off her protests.

"George, make them pay," he said simply, taking the arrows and sliding them into his nearly empty quiver. Jaro knew that the wounded kokiri would never make it across the chasm… this way, he could insure that at least two of his party might find Link… and if nothing else, George could go hunting for the Gerudo.

George lifted his mask and grinned, his eyes burning with a feverish joy. It scared Natalie. He looked at her gently, and wiped away one of her tears, "Nat. I miss my mom," he said simply. He dropped his bow, and pulled off his empty quiver, tossing it aside, lightening his load. With a flick of his head, the mask fell back down over his face, and he became a snarling warrior once more: faceless, and terrifying to the enemies of the Forest.

The Whisper warned her that the kokiri were around the next bend in the passage, and urged her to strike while they were vulnerable. Nikaru gestured for Sejuno to go first.

Her bow twanged, and she sneered at an unseen enemy. Nikaru followed her as they walked down the dimly lit passage. A small shape was crumpled ahead, an arrow in its throat. "I expected more," Sejuno confided to Nikaru, as she took careful aim at the two kokiri slowly making their way over a collapsed section of floor, vulnerable.

Something stabbed Sejuno's calf, and she screamed, her shot going wide. She stared down at the dead kokiri, who snapped her arrow in his throat off at the base. His fist was wrapped around a small stone dagger, which dripped with her blood.

Nikaru's daggers flashed, but the kokiri ducked, it's small size, and the darkness of the tunnel made it hard to hit. She felt the stone dagger's bite, trailing along her thigh.

George fought in the darkness, both metaphorical, and literal. He could feel his life slipping away, but he had something important to do first… he couldn't die yet. It was cold though. He wondered why it had to be cold? He moved without thought, causing pain and harm, he did not remember _why_, he only knew that he must. After a time, his body no longer moved, and he no longer breathed… and his heart had grown still. He heard familiar voices though, in the darkness, welcoming him home. George smiled, and gratefully left his fleshy prison.

Nikaru tried not to whimper as she tightly wrapped the deep slashes on her legs. Sejuno had already tied off her injuries, and risked lighting a torch. She had to _see_. The Forest Demon had come back to life once already. She had to be sure. In the steady glow of the torch, Sejuno pulled the wooden mask off the demon's face, and shrank back. They had never captured a kokiri's body before. The living always carried off their dead.

She had killed a child. The young boy could not have been older than ten summers, despite the green hue of his skin, whiteless eyes, and tail. Blood had dried at the corner of his mouth. He had died with a dreamy smile on his pale face, lifeless eyes beholding something in the distance.

"They are _children?_" Nikaru demanded angrily. Her people had been held at bay by Hylian _whelps _dressed up like demons?!

"Or are they demons that have taken the form of children?" Sejuno countered.

Nikaru thought about it for a moment. She would rather believe Sejuno's theory. It salved her ego somewhat.

"No child could have survived so long with these injuries. He is the one I shot in the back, earlier," Sejuno said, ripping the home-made tunic open, and moving the crude bandage away.

"Then they _are _demons," Nikaru said smugly.

"And so is your man, then," her friend replied direly.

"We are close to the center," Link said, glancing at Ian. The master sword eagerly wished to continue, they were close to the evil, like a hound baying for the blood of its quarry.

Ian did not look very good. His mask was up, and the face beneath had become even paler, with pinpricks of red. Behind them, there came the sound of bare feet running on stone. Link looked up, and waited. Within seconds, two kokiri sprinted into view, more of the winged skull-monsters in pursuit. Link darted forward, his sword hissing around him, killing things that had been dead for many, many years. The two kokiri turned and fought as well, lacking spears, they were forced to go hand-to-tooth with the beasts, grabbing them by their sharp wings and swinging the skulls against the hard stones until they shattered.

Ian was dimly aware of all this, but it seemed far away. His hearing was strange, and he felt light headed. He began to focus when familiar hands stroked his hair. He smiled up at Natalie, who had raised her mask as well. No words were needed.

Link hung his head, "This is all that remains?"

Jaro nodded grimly, "There's at least two Gerudo bitches following us, and the monsters seem to leave em' alone."

Link pointed to the ancient door set into the wall, "Beyond this door lies the Center. Saria will be there, as well as our Enemy. We will deal with the gerudo after, they are the lesser threat."

Jaro nodded subtly at Ian, "The boy looks a tad rough. I don't think he's going to make it if we stay…"

Link brushed the concern away, "I have a plan, it won't be a problem," he promised, and Jaro believed him. Link wouldn't lie, not about something like that.

"Well, are we going to introduce the beast's head to my stick anytime soon?" Jaro demanded. Link grinned, and pushed against the doors.

Link led the small band into the Center. The chamber was huge, and upon their entrance, sickly green torches erupted into life, illuminating the space. It was a massive, circular room with a vaulted ceiling. Mirrors hung regularly along the walls, at least sixteen of them. In the center of the room…

"Mother!" Link cried, and ran to the large crystal. Incased within was Saria. Her eyes stared sightlessly, but there was still life within them… simply… frozen, some how.

"You have brought me a snack, I see," a voice purred. Link turned, but could not see the speaker.

"You hide, like a coward!" Link taunted, he held his hand out to the kokiri, and they quickly swarmed around him. "Join hands," the hero whispered, one of his hands still leaning against the crystal that held Saria.

"You are nothing," the voice said dismissively, not even bothering to sneer. Link was beneath its notice.

"You pretend to have such power, but only through deception and guile have you managed to harm us, even here, in the seat of your power, you dare not confront me directly! _You_ are nothing!" Link roared.

"Brave words, from the lips of a child," the voice, was annoyed, "I think I will eat the forest lice first," it mused.

Link smiled wolfishly, and untangled the strand of magic he had been holding for nearly three hours, ever since he cast Farore's Wind on the bark of his old tree. Before anyone could realize what he was doing, he passed the strand to Jaro. Unprepared for the magic, the kokiri never had a chance to grab the strand, and it unraveled. With a peal of song and green light, the kokiri, and Saria, vanished.

The voice howled in cheated rage, and Link laughed heartily at the monster.

"Face me," he finally said, "You have no hostages to hide behind. Let us finish this,"

"So be it!" the voice screamed.

Black mist congealed into the vague shape of a man, "I am the Phantom: I will tear you apart, and feast upon you _bones!_"

"You talk too much," Link sneered.

Jaro stared around, thoroughly disorientated. They were back at camp? How were they back at camp? He looked around, and the kokiri seemed just as startled to see him there as he was. He glanced at his feet, and saw Saria, weakly stirring. _Oh damn._

The Phantom had assumed the form of Gannondorf, but with a bare, screaming skull for a head, with two curved horns jutting from the forehead.

The _phantom_ was busy prancing around the chamber on a black horse, identical to the horse Link had killed seven years ago. Link was unimpressed. The phantom carried a long, wicked spear though, and was trying to ride Link down with it, while remaining too far away for him to use the Master Sword.

"Coward…" Link sang mockingly, rolling to the side, evading another charge.

The Phantom reined in, and cocked its eerie gaze at Link, "Do you not wonder what became of Mido?" it sneered.

"Of course I wonder, but it does not matter. You are responsible, some how. For that alone, I would kill you," Link said, as he continued to dodge the spear. _I can't get close… not with him mounted…_

Link stumbled, and the Phantom tried to ride him down… but Link turned his fall into a roll, and his sword removed one of the horse's legs at the knee… throwing his rider. The phantom flew into one of the mirrors… and suddenly, every mirror held a phantom. The horse keeled over, screaming, but Link ignored the creature.

Link stalked to the nearest mirror, and promptly smashed it with his sword, but there was no scream, the phantom in the glass simply disappeared. A bolt of magic slapped into Link's back, burning against his chainmail like a hot coal.

"_Wrong mirror_," the phantom cooed.

"A coward," Link hissed. He smashed another mirror, and spun, deflecting the bolt of magic off the Master sword, where it harmlessly melted the ceiling.

"You call me a coward? You who wields a sword that none may challenge?" the phantom mocked, as Link continued around the room, smashing mirrors. He blocked and dodged the retaliatory spells as often as they found their mark. By the end, Link was burned and bleeding from a half-dozen injuries. He smashed the final mirror, but the phantom still did not die, or appear.

The phantom began to laugh, and one by one the torches died, spreading darkness within the room.

"_I am the fear in the night, the nameless dread you sense as the darkness closes in… I am the terror, the horror of the unseen. I am everything you hope and hate… I am…_"

The sibilant voice changed in the darkness, to one more familiar to Link. Hands touched Link's shoulders in the dark. Familiar hands.

"You want her so badly… but you can't have her," Malon whispered in the dark.

Link swung the master sword, missing the phantom.

"And now, you are big. You think, perhaps, things are different. Perhaps you can love, and be loved as the Hylians do… but too bad Malon died, without you to protect her, when you abandoned me for seven years. My bones are scattered across the land by the animals… where were you? Why didn't you save me—?"

"Shut up!" Link yelled, his blade seeking his tormentor.

"But now, you are even more lost than before, aren't you?" Saria asked scornfully.

"You don't belong to the Hylians… and now, you don't even belong to the Forest. You're nothing."

Link charged blindly at the source of the voice, but again, his blade found nothing.

"Can you hear the tree song? Can you feel the soul of forest beneath your toes?" the Saria taunted, and Link began to tremble. He was cut off from the soul he had grown up within. His place in the world… was closed to him, letting him peek in from the outside, but forever barred to his return.

"You're not a kokiri," Jaro sneered.

_I am a kokiri, I do not know pain, I do not know fear… only my love of the forest…_ Link thought numbly, so if he wasn't a kokiri…

…then he was nothing.

Link felt the darkness digging into his heart, numbing him, stealing away the things that made him live.

He was nothing. Nothing mattered, if he didn't belong to the forest, then, where did he belong?

_**WITH ME**_

The lady sliced into his mind like the ripping of a scab… and the spells of the phantom burst like bloated corpses, spilling putrescence and bile. Link's hand tightened upon the Master Sword.

_I am the Wielder, servant of the Lady._ Link thought numbly, as the Master Sword began to glow of its own accord, independent of Link. The darkness began to retreat, attempting to escape, but now the walls of the chamber became a tomb.

The phantom screamed, and solidified in the light, unable to hide. Desperately, the creature threw magic and deadly spells at Link, but they simply shattered against the Lady. The light continued to build, until Link felt he must go blind.

With a shriek, Link felt something let go…

…and then it was over. The phantom's body twisted and bent, folding in on itself as the curse that gave it life was broken… revealing the heart that had powered it.

Link reached down, and pulled the small green disk from the burning corpse. As soon as his fingers touched it, strength flowed into his weary body, as if he'd had a full night's sleep in a hammock, swinging in the tree tops…

Link stared, dumbfounded, at the metal, which felt like a fusion of metal and stone, but was brilliantly, and metallically green. The back face held the Triforce seal, while the front face had three long leaves in a swirling pattern, which matched one of the Seals in the Chamber of the Sages. He heard a groan, and looked over. The Phantom's horse was burning, and out of it, staggered a familiar shape.

"Mido!" Link cried, and scrambled over to his father, grabbing him in a hug.

"Damn, son, you got big," Mido slurred, disorientated, "Hell of a dream though."

Navi stirred in Link's collar.

"As touching as scene may be, you have something of mine, demon," a familiar voice said. Link slowly turned his gaze, and settled them on his ex-captor. A second gerudo, also familiar to him, but far less hated, stood off to one side, an arrow on her string. Link moved Mido behind him, protectively, and stared at the slaver.

"You are a vulture," Link spat.

The woman smiled, slightly, "That could perhaps be nicest thing you say to me. Now, give my sword to me."

Link laughed at her, disbelief in his tone, "_Your_ sword?"

"Son, the other gerudo is going to shoot you. Please stop laughing," Mido said quietly.

The hylian shook his head sadly, "You understand so very little… this sword does not belong to me, you, or anyone that walks upon this world."

The hated one looked at him, as if he were mad, "I broke you more than I think."

Link felt Mido tense behind him, hidden from the Gerudo's view. In the next moment, the arms of the second Gerudo's bow snapped violently forward, the bowstring no longer intact. She yelped, and dropped the now useless weapon. Mido had thrown his stone dagger with his tail.

Link stepped forward, and pushed some of his remaining magic into the blade, setting it alight with cold, blue fire. He smiled.

The man was a demon. Nikaru saw death in his eyes. She desperately attacked with her glaive, but the man's fiery sword batted it aside, easily slicing through the strong wood. The glaive head, and a foot of handle went flying, where the small demon caught it, and hefted it like a sword. Nikaru desperately held him back with the haft of her weapon, but within seconds, even that was taken from her. Nikaru back pedaled, vaguely aware that Sejuno was busy fighting the small demon. She threw a dagger at the demon, but he raised his right hand, and the knife pierced his palm instead of his throat. The demon pulled the knife out and let it fall to the ground without slowing, or breaking eye contact. She saw death in his eyes. She used her bolas, but his sword shredded them. Her whip fared no better, she attacked with a dagger and her short scimitar, but he was unnaturally fast, no longer the wounded and tired man she had beaten out on the plains.

He was a demon now. Unarmed, she fell to her knees, and committed the gravest sin a gerudo is capable of. She begged with a man.

"What do you want? Why do you do this? I can give you anything," she pleaded desperately. The hand she had pierced grabbed her throat tightly, not yet squeezing, his blood staining her throat.

The demon held her, arching an eyebrow, "I _need_ nothing from you, but you do have one thing that I _want_."

Nikaru swallowed, if the price of her life was rape, then she would gladly pay it.

"I want only your _life_," the demon sneered, those handsome, pale features twisted by hatred.

The smaller demon cried out in pain, and her demon looked over.

Link dropped the one he hated, and sprinted towards Mido, who was clutching his right arm to his chest, backing away from the second gerudo. He was weak, and groggy from nearly six years of torture. In the next moment, Link crashed into the woman, and furiously pushed her back behind a rapid flurry of slashes and strikes. His foot hooked her ankle at the same time he ripped the sword from her grasp. She spilled to the cold stone, and Link planted a boot between her breasts, securely pinning her for the decapitating blow.

She threw up her arms futilely, and something caught Link's attention. He grabbed her left wrist, "Where did you get this?" he roared in her face. She wore an intricate bracelet on her wrist. It was not the one he had given Malon, but it was _extremely _similar… a copy.

Link's boot had to be painful, but she scowled at him, "I tell you, but I want something too," she haggled. "You are in no position to bargain!" Link growled.

The woman smirked, "This is _only_ position for bargain."

Link furiously scowled at the woman, but she did not buckle. Link had her in a corner. She would play this out for all it was worth, she was desperate.

"What do you want?" Link demanded.

"Spare life of Nikaru," the woman said.

"And why would I spare your life? You killed one of my friends, and wounded another," Link challenged.

The woman frowned, "I am Sejuno. _She_ is Nikaru."

Link looked suspiciously between the women, "Why would you give your life for her?"

The woman shrugged, "She is family."

Link considered. He weighed his desire to find Malon against his need to avenge himself on the woman who had bound him. It wasn't a fair contest.

The young man looked down at the scared woman thoughtfully, "I cannot promise such a thing, for I am not the only one with reason to kill you both. You will have until dawn to leave the forest. After the sun begins to rise, any kokiri that finds you will kill you. I will not pursue you, or hamper you, so long as you do not harm any of the kokiri."

Sejuno had understood most of what the demon told her… but it was still a chance to live. "You give your word on this?" she demanded.

"Do you give _your_ word, desert thief?" the demon asked coolly.

"Sejuno swears it," she promised. "Then Link swears it," the demon replied.

Sejuno unfastened the bracelet and handed it to the demon, who took it gently, holding it as one might a baby bird. "We passed a place of cows and horses on our way here. I traded a broken dagger for this bracelet."

"What was the name of the place?" the demon asked.

"May I sit up?" she asked. Cautiously, the demon removed his boot from her chest, and she rubbed the throbbing place gently.

Sejuno could not read, especially not _Hylian _scribbles, but she had an eye for detail, and her memory was good. She drew in the dust, sketching the sign that had hung over the gate.

A tiny blue woman fluttered over her, and seemed to read the scribbles. She returned to the demon, and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said, brought a smile to his face, a real smile, and for a moment, Sejuno saw a young man. Then his eyes returned to her, and he became a demon once more.

"Leave your weapons here, and go. _Now_," he commanded harshly.

Link watched the Gerudo scramble away, disappearing down the passage.

Mido sat nearby, conspicuously saying nothing, simply using his teeth to tighten a hasty bandage over his gashed arm.

"Pretty bracelet," he commented idly. When Link didn't say anything, Mido continued, "Kind of looks like the one you made…" he quirked an eyebrow, waiting.

Link sighed, "I met an outsider girl on the way to the castle."

Mido's eyebrows rose, "Weren't you a little _young_ for her?"

Link bristled, "She was close to my age."

Mido frowned, "A bit early for her to be a lover, don't you think?"

"She's not my lover!" Link denied.

"Who has a lover?" someone asked, startled, and Link looked up to see Saria framed in the passage way. Mido cried out, and in the next moment, had her in a tight embrace. Link looked away, giving them some privacy. There were tears, then sobs, and finally laughter.

Saria took his hand, and looked up at him. He felt freakishly gigantic; his big, heavy hands were so much larger than hers now. "My little baby grew up…" she whispered, tears in her eyes. "You're still my mother," Link said softly, and then he told his parents of everything that had transpired since he left the forest. They listened, quietly, as their son told them of strange, and wondrous places. Finally, at the crack of dawn, Link finished, and Saria looked over at Mido. "Link, there are… things… we must tell you," she started slowly. Link waited calmly and patiently.

"I did not give birth to you," Saria told him gently, "The woman who bore you was a Sheikah, and she named you Link, after your father."

Link smiled slightly, "I knew you didn't give _birth_ to me, but you're still my mother, and Mido is still my father."

The kokiri exchanged a glance, but they weren't terribly surprised.

"I am one of the seven Sages, Link. That is why the Phantom imprisoned me," Saria explained.

"Why not kill you?" Link asked. Saria quirked an eyebrow, but answered the question, "There must always be seven sages. If I died, the mantle would pass to another, as long as I lived, and was safely locked away, there could be no Sage of the Forest to oppose the Dark-man."

Link reached into his pouch, and handed the Forest Medallion to Saria. She fondled it, and held it in one small hand.

"_You_ are the Hero of Time. As long as either of us holds this medallion, I may command the forces of the Forest," Saria explained.

"Why was Mido spared?" Link asked, curious.

Saria smiled grimly, "Mido came for me quickly, and the Phantom had not yet been able to imprison me. He killed all but Mido. We came to an agreement. I would surrender, but Mido was not to be killed, or else I would kill myself, and the Phantom would have to start over, searching for the Forest Sage."

Mido coughed, disturbed by the train of thought, and interrupted grimly, "We must prepare the Kokiri, and our allies in the forest for war."

Sheik slipped across the dark plain like a shadow, her feet hardly touching the barren earth and grass. She could hear the stalhounds howling in the distance, but she was of the Shadow, this was her time. Princess Zelda had felt a… disturbance… from the Kokiri forest, and had sent the young Sheikah to investigate. Sheik had not dared contradict her superior, but her time could be better devoted elsewhere. There were scouts that could be sent to investigate things as nebulous as prophetic dreams.

The young woman sighed quietly. She could be killing things right now. But her duty was to the princess, and if said princess thought it best to use one of her few Sheikah to survey a damned forest, then that is what she must do.


	9. Chapter 9 Echoes from the Past

Link left the forest again, and this time was harder than the last, because he knew _exactly _what he was leaving behind. There were still four more sages to find though… but first, he had something he needed to do.

Sheik slipped into the dark trees of the Lost Woods, the heart of the Kokiri Forest. She could feel the forest bristle at her presence. She should not be here… no sooner had the thought crossed her mind, when the silence was broken.

"Halt, and identify yourself," a voice barked. Sheik froze, and looked for the speaker, but she was not in her element.

"I am Sheik, a survivor of the Sheikah. To whom am I speaking?"

"Well, Sheik you have a most unoriginal name," the speaker confided.

"Coming from one with a name like Twig, Stick, or Leaf, no doubt," Sheik shot back, annoyed. She was fairly certain she was speaking to a Kokiri.

She heard honest childish laughter, and a shape stepped out onto a bough, and crouched, peering down intently at her. The face was inscrutable behind the snarling wooden mask.

"It is often polite for allies to share their names," Sheik pointed out caustically.

"Is that what we are, shadow-kin? Allies?" the kokiri cocked his head insolently at her.

"If you oppose Ganondorf, then yes, we share a common purpose," Sheik said.

"You claim to oppose the Dark-Man, shadow-girl?"

"As well as I am able. I do as I am commanded." Normally Sheik would not have been as free with her information, but she did not know how many bows were pointed at her, and the kokiri would die before swearing allegiance to Ganondorf, or even revealing secrets to him under torture. Such was to be expected of demons.

A second form appeared on the bough, and smacked the back of the first kokiri's head. A rapid conversation in their native tongue was whispered, and eventually the newcomer, a female, sent the male on his way.

"I am Saria, Sage of the Forest. Why have you trespassed here, shadow-kin?" the female said.

Sheik's eyes widened. "You… you are a sage?" the shadow warrior whispered, awed.

"Yes. I was recently freed, and the darkness expelled from our temple," the Sage replied curtly. It was strange to be scolded by someone so young… and so old.

"I beg your forgiveness in advance, but I must know. May I see your Medallion?" Sheik pleaded.

The small demon watched Sheik for several seconds, before slowly reaching under the belted flap of cloth that served as a tunic, and pulled fourth a small disk of glittering green metal. It glowed dimly with an inner emerald light, and Sheik could feel the pulse and flow of its magic.

It was true. "How was this miracle accomplished?" Sheik asked.

"If you truly serve the Princess of Destiny, then ask her. She will know," Saria replied coolly.

"With your permission," Sheik said, holding up her Sheikah gossip stone. Saria nodded.

"I have news, milady."

Link climbed the tree as darkness fell, and made himself as comfortable as he could in the dead branches. Navi stood watch for him, and he began to drift off to sleep.

"We've been waiting for you, Hero of Time…" a voice whispered in the darkness. Link's eyes snapped open, and he drew the Master sword, fatigue forgotten.

A shadowy figure crouched farther out along the tree limb Link sat on, partially illuminated by his glowing blade. The figure nodded to him, and Link recognized the

traditional sheikah garb…

Link saw the almost luminescent pink eyes that marked all Sheikah as different. The tightly fitted suit did little to disguise the gender of the female shadow warrior. A tanto rested against the back of the sheikah's belt, while a coiled chain was wrapped along one wrist. Sheaths with throwing spikes dotted her other wrist and thighs.

"Impa?" Link asked. The warrior shook her head, "I am Sheik, a survivor of the Sheikahs…" the woman replied, her arms crossed, as a sign of truce.

Link slowly lowered his blade. In a land of monsters, he would be glad to have an ally… _any_ ally.

"You've been waiting for me? Why?" Link asked.

Sheik tipped her head to one side as she recited something from memory,

"_When evil rules all, _

_an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those destined to be Sages, _

_who dwell in the five temples._

_One in a deep forest…_

_One on a high mountain…_

_One under a vast lake…_

_One within the house of the dead…_

_One inside a goddess of the sand…_

_Together with the Hero of Time, _

_the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world…"_

The woman explained, "This is the legend of the temples passed down by my people, the Sheikah."

"You know it doesn't rhyme… right?" Navi pointed out.

"It's a prophesy, not a tavern song… and that is a rough translation," Sheik said coldly.

Link nodded slowly, "You said you were a… survivor, of the Sheikahs?"

The woman's eyes tightened with pain, "Ganon was not merciful. Many of my tribe died, to keep the Princess Zelda safe, and hidden. Only a handful remains of our line… He made public examples of all who would not bend their knee to him. Monsters prowl the land, and the people cower in their homes. They have lost the will to fight."

"No one opposes him?" Link asked, surprised.

Sheik laughed bitterly, "Oh, we opposed him, we fought him bitterly, at first, giving ground in inches… but he summons monsters to his banner, uniting the evil that already existed in our lands, forging it into an army. Moblins, the undead, Lizafoes… together with his Gerudo… well, we have lost many battles during the seven years we have warred. Ganon rules Hyrule now. The Gorons are slaves, forced to mine the mountains for ore. The Zoras… are trapped within their domain, under siege, and we have had no word from them for some months now. Only the Kokiri remain free, but much of their forest has been felled, or burned down."

"The Kokiri will replant, the forest will grow again," Link said sharply.

"I hope so," the shadow warrior said grimly, "Come with me to Kakariko… there is someone who wishes to speak with you there..."

"Do you know of a girl, she would be a woman now, named Malon? Her father is Talon, he owns, or used to own, a ranch. She had fiery hair, blue eyes. Do you know what has become of her?" Link asked. Sheik shook her head, "I do not know of Malon, but Talon resides in Kakariko. He would know."

Link pulled his hood up, "Then lead on, Sheik of the Sheikah."

Navi darted into Link's hood, and clung to his earlobe.

It took five days and nights to reach the foothills of Death mountain, and approach Kakariko. As they drew nearer, Sheik grew more irritable, Link noticed. She halted them outside the broken gates.

"Draw your sword, Hero. As soon as we enter the village, we will be surrounded by evil on every side. Ganon was not kind to my home," Sheik said.

Link pulled out the Master Sword, and looked to Sheik. She gently pushed open one of the great gates, and slipped through the crack. Link followed, closing the door. He froze.

Everything was destroyed… if Link did not know better, he might have thought himself back in Castle Town. Eternal darkness hung in the sky here as well, corpses were left where they'd fallen… and once again the tortured wind moaned without a breeze.

"That's not the wind, right?" Link whispered. In the darkness, he saw Sheik shake her head, "Not everything stays dead here. Stay close,"

Link didn't argue. The sheikah obviously knew what she was doing. In the murky twilight, their footsteps, soft as they were, seemed to echo in their ears. Sheik scrambled up one of the destroyed buildings, and Link followed, sheathing his blade first. They leapt, from building to building. Below him, Link saw furtive movement in the shadows, and familiar gangly shapes, shambling without direction. "What are they?" Link asked. Sheik was crouched beside him on the wall, uncomfortably close, she smelled of steel and blood, "We call them _Re_Deads. Its Ganon's version of a sick joke, a taste of his "mercy." He took their life, then gave it back… twisted and broken." Link suppressed a shiver. This man would die.

"Come, we are near the well," Sheik whispered.

Link felt unseen eyes upon him as they approached the village well. When they came closer, Link saw that it was dry. Sheik slipped into the opening, and scrambled down the ladder. Link followed her, down to the bottom. They were crammed tightly together in the confines. One of her knives was poking him uncomfortably with the pommel.

Sheik whistled a short tune, and an answering tune came back. Link didn't see who had whistled. Part of the stone wall shimmered, and dissolved, revealing a small cave. Was it physical, or an illusion? Link wondered idly. Another sheikah, wearing pieces of armor over the standard outfit, with a pair of hooked swords strapped to her back, stood just inside. Sheik darted into the cave, and Link followed, glad for the elbow room. The guard raised her hand, and the opening seemed to darken, as if seen through ten feet of water.

Impa cocked her head, "So you are the hero?" she asked, appraising the young man before her. He had an odd look to his eyes, which set the veteran shadow warrior on edge. Something was not quite… normal… about him. Impa had good instincts, and she trusted them. "Hold, a moment, has he been tested?" she asked, worried. Could they have been deceived?

"He holds the sword of evil's bane," Sheik pointed out. "I see, but there is something… different about him," Impa murmured, only loud enough for Sheik to hear.

She shrugged helplessly, and the young man cocked his head. "I am a kokiri," he offered. To prove this, a small blue faerie peeked out of his hood, before disappearing back into his hair. Impa's eyebrows rose. An adult kokiri? _Surely… this could not be the kokiri that aided the princess all those years ago?_

"How have you grown past childhood, and where is your tail?" Impa demanded, curious. The peculiar markings beneath the young man's eye made sense now.

"I drew the blade, but could not wield it, so the blade… molded me into what it needed," Link explained slowly, and as he said it, he felt an echo of confirmation from the sword.

Impa looked at him, and with that new knowledge, figured out what had struck her. The young man's mannerisms were those of a child, forced onto the body of an adult. They didn't look right.

"You may pass, Sheik, and you as well, Hero," Impa motioned with her hand, pointing them deeper into the cave.

As Link followed Sheik, he realized that it wasn't a cave… but sort of a… tomb. "What is this place?" Link asked.

"It is a dark place. An Interloper was executed here, his spirit bound for eternity within the bricks and mortar for his crimes. Ganon's gaze cannot find us here. After the Shadow Temple fell, filled with evil creatures… we were forced to move our operations here. A select few who have fled the Dark Lord were given sanctuary. Talon is among them."  
They made their way deeper into the gloomy base, passing sleeping forms in alcoves that had once displayed the dead, now equipped with bedding and blanket, giving rest to the living, instead. A few turned to look at them, disinterest in their haunted eyes. A witch was busy stirring a potion on a simmering cauldron as they passed, the crone leering at them in greeting, before her gnarled hands returned to brewing.

They reached the deepest room in the dungeon, and Sheik pressed her palm to the door, which trembled and opened. Link ducked inside.

A map table took up much of the room, made in exacting detail to the topography of Hyrule. Then Link realized it was enchanted. A woman was bent over the table, her bound hair tucked impatiently over her shoulders. She was studying the area around Hylia bay.

"Milady, I have brought someone to you," Sheik announced politely. The woman jerked, and turned. Link felt a lurch. "Princess… Zelda?" he asked tentatively.

The young woman smiled, the robes were Royal design, but influenced by Sheikah materials and tastes. It was… interesting. Navi darted out of Link's hood, and settled on the woman's shoulder, then darted back to Link, "It's Zelda," she whispered. Link dropped to one knee, his head bowed, "I failed you, Princess," he whispered with shame.

Zelda placed a gently hand on Link's shoulder, "Rise, Hero, if anyone has failed, it is I. You did as I commanded, faithfully carrying out your duties. If any should claim the blame let it be mine."

Link reluctantly stood, he needed to speak, "Princess, I did not open the Sacred Realm in the name of peace, as Rauru, Sage of Light, believes. I did it in the name of murder, to kill a man," Link whispered.

"You believe what you did was wrong and amoral?" Zelda asked.

"I know it to be so," Link replied.

Zelda turned to Sheik suddenly, "Tell me, warrior, from where does the magic power you wield originate?"

The sheikah shifted, "From darkness, pain, misery… death sometimes…" she replied.

"What is your purpose?" Zelda asked.

"We swore to protect and aid the Royal family, in exchange for being granted leave to live within these lands," Sheik answered.

"And the Royal family is charged with the safety of their subjects, so essentially, you protect and safeguard the people of this land. The innocent, and the weak," Zelda continued.

Sheik nodded her head reluctantly.

Zelda turned to look at Link, "Why did you wish to use the Sacred Realm for murder?"

Link's eyes flashed, "To eradicate something less than a man, who spread death and horror… a man with the blood of innocent's on his hands… for revenge."

Zelda nodded, conceding the point, "Link, if the triforce was yours to command, what would you wish for?"

Link didn't even have to think about it, "I would undo the damage and evil Ganon has done." _I would prevent him from ever being born._

Zelda crossed her arms, going in for the kill, "When given unlimited power, you choose to protect the defenseless, whereas Ganon seeks to subjugate and destroy…. You opened the Sacred Realm, in order to murder a man, a man so dangerous, that he could not be allowed to continue living, for he would spread more death, pain, and destruction with every breath he drew."

"Just as Sheik is not evil, despite the dark magic she wields, because she uses it to protect and serve those who cannot defend themselves."

Zelda raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him to think it through, and consider her words. Reluctantly he did, and slowly he realized that she was right.

Link sighed, "Regardless, my actions allowed Ganon to take the Triforce."

Zelda smiled, "Ganon does not have the Triforce,"

Link looked at her, "What? Then how has he accomplished all of this?" Link demanded.

Zelda took Link's left hand. A small triangle began to glow on the back of his hand. Zelda reversed their hands, so he could see that she too had a glowing triangle.

"The full power of the Triforce can only be used by someone with an equal balance of Wisdom, Courage, and Power. When Ganon touched the Triforce, it shattered into its three components. Ganon has done all of this using only the Triforce of Power. If he possessed the entire Triforce, then we would not be having this conversation. I possess the Triforce of Wisdom, and you carry within you the Triforce of Courage."

Link considered this. He raised his chin, "What would you have me do?" he asked.

Zelda smiled, "Saving the kingdom seems like a good place to start," she replied lightly.

She clapped her hands, and a man in dented plate armor stepped forward.

He carried a sword at his hip, and a shield on his back. "I presume that you have had… difficulty… adjusting to your new body?"

Link nodded uncomfortably.

"This is Sir Donovan. He will help you… acclimatize." Link recognized the man after a moment, as the knight that accompanied the young princess in her flight from Castle Town.

"If I may, I was told that Talon was here," Link interrupted.

"Talon?" Zelda asked, distracted.

"The drunkard with the battle-axe," the knight supplied, his voice a deep rumble.

"Oh, he is on a raid, at the moment," Zelda answered.

"When will he return?" Link pressed.

"Hard to say, the Knight shrugged, "Shall we begin?"

"Again, damn you!" the knight roared, and Link snarled, dashing through the obstacle course. He was tired, sweaty, and bloody. Some of the traps were sharp. This was a _Sheikah _training ground, after all. He jumped over a short wall, tucking his body to slide beneath the swinging blade ahead of him, and popped up to his feet, spinning to his left to keep his feet under him, despite the lurching platform, and dove, latching onto a bar with his hands, whipping his body forward into a reverse somersault.

Donovan watched the kokiri navigate the sheikah training course. The young man's awkwardness was beginning to dissipate, replaced by confidence. Link was relearning the limits of his body. It would take several weeks… but Donovan was impressed with the clay he had been given. This one had agility and speed seldom seen among non-Sheikah, as well as keen visual-spatial awareness. In the knight's opinion, compensating for his increased mass and inertia was the hardest challenge for the Hero of Time. Predictably, as soon as the Hero found his rhythm, he slipped back into his old mindset… and promptly tripped.

"Again!" Donovan shouted, and the kokiri gave him a look that promised death and misery upon his children, his children's children, and their children. Donovan wasn't worried unduly. He doubted he would live long enough to have children.

"No, hold the blade like _this_. Main hand below the crossguard, and reserve hand gently grips the pommel," Donovan admonished, correcting Link's grip.

Link had never received formal instruction among the kokiri. There, you learned by experience, or from watching others… or you stayed in the trees.

He had used speed and strength to defeat his opponents thus far, but now, he must learn skill. The Master Sword could give him knowledge, and pointers in battle, but it was not as swift as the body instinctively moving with that knowledge. Also, the greater the wielder's knowledge, the more advanced the techniques Master Sword could channel to him.

Link stared at the enchanted map, "So we have not had contact with the Zoras for six weeks?" Link asked.

"Correct, the last word we received was of an attack on Zora's domain, but the messenger seemed confident that they would repel it, however, when no additional word came, I sent Sheik to investigate. The entrance to the domain has been frozen solid."

Link nodded unhappily. Zelda crossed her arms, "The Gorons used to be our staunchest allies, up until three years ago. Suddenly, all aid ceased, and Ganon's armies have received shipments of weapons and armor from Death mountain. The spies I sent to investigate reported of some new enemy, before contact was lost. I dare not send more. I would suggest seeking out the Goron's first. With their warriors, we could reopen at least two additional fronts for the enemy."

"Very well, Princess." He turned to leave, then remembered something.

"Before I leave Princess, I have something that belongs to you," he pulled the Ocarina of Time from a pouch on his belt, and held it out to her. Zelda shook her head, "You will need it in your mission, keep it until Hyrule is safe."

Link left the war room, a new spring in his step. Sheik ghosted along beside him, "Talon has returned from his raid. He is this way, down the east wing," she said. Link followed her, and they came to a small crypt. Link spotted Talon immediately. He approached the sleeping man, and shook his shoulder. "Talon," Link called loudly.

"Gah!" Talon yelped, his large hands flailing. Link dodged away, while the big man sputtered. "What do you want!? Disturbing a man's sleep, why, that's just…_ inhuman_—"

"Talon. Where is Malon?" Link asked, the intensity of his gaze cutting through Talon's sleep addled wits.

"Mal-malon?" Talon asked. Link crouched next to the man, "Yes. Where is your daughter?" Link demanded.

"And who is she to you?" Talon demanded he didn't recognize the fighter. Link smiled, "Seven years ago a kokiri saved your daughter's life,"

"Aye, but that's debatable," Talon began to argue.

"In the process, Malon stole his heart."

Talon's jaw dropped. "No cotton-picking way…"

Link smiled smugly, "The bracelet was mine."

Talon's eyes grew large, especially when Navi darted out to stand on Link's shoulder, fists planted on her hips in challenge.

"She's… she was captured, in the last raid. We were already away, I thought she was with us!" Talon wailed, "They would not let me go…" this close, Link realized he could smell alcohol… a _lot_ of it, on Talon.

Link's eyes grew cold, and Talon had no doubts that this young man was a demon. "Talon. Grab your things," he whispered.

"Why?" Talon asked.

"We're going to rescue your daughter. We're leaving, now."

Talon scrambled to his feet, following the demon.

Link stalked down the dark corridor, anger drifting off him in cold waves, even the ghosts kept their distance.

"You would risk our allies for the life of a single girl?" Sheik demanded.

"Yes," Link hissed.

"Then I'm coming with you," Sheik told him.

"Mounts would be helpful," Link responded, not really concerned.

"I'll see what I can do," Sheik murmured, literally fading into the shadows.

Twenty minutes later, three figures rode out of Kakariko at full gallop, as if the hounds of hell were nipping at their heels.

They only had two horses.

"You didn't say you couldn't ride!" Sheik accused. Link was riding behind her, his arms clamped uncomfortably around her waist as he held on for dear life. He would have rather ridden with Talon, but the horse flatly refused to take a second rider, probably due to Talon's size. It was awkward riding with a girl, especially one he didn't really know. He was eternally grateful that he was wearing pants.

"And when, exactly, would I have learned?" Link shot back. "I was asleep for seven years! Before that, I was too small to ride anything bigger than a wolfos, which is nothing like a horse!"

"You sit on the animal, and you tell it where to go! What is so different?" Sheik growled.

"You ride a wolfos bareback, and you aren't the one in control. You're just there to back him up!" Link replied, irritated.

Talon watched with amusement as the two demons bickered. It was almost cute, until you remembered what they were. Seeing a forest demon, so thoroughly terrified of a horse… well, it warmed the jaded little cockles of Talon's heart. Besides, Talon could lock Malon away from Link _after_, they rescued her. It was a nine-day ride… they reached their target in five.

Navi scouted out the perimeter of the fortified compound, which appeared to have once been a ranch, although much smaller than the one Talon had owned. She returned to Link after half an hour. The three rescuers had taken up position on a hill overlooking the enemy.

"There's a dozen Gerudo, a hundred moblins, eight prisoners, Malon, twenty horses, and sixty cows. I counted the chickens too. Want to know how many?" Navi asked. Link shook his head, "What's the layout?" he asked.

Navi landed on the crude map Talon had drawn in the dirt. She stepped into the box that represented the stables, "The prisoners are kept _here_. There's two Moblins in there at all times."

She hopped over to the farmhouse, "The Gerudo are stationed here."

She sketched paths along the wall, outlining patrol routes, "The Moblins patrol the walls in pairs here, always rotating their shifts, but usually they stay by the gates."

Link rubbed his chin. He hiked the quiver on his back a little higher. It felt strange to have such a large bow, when compared to the twenty-four inch Kokiri bow he used to carry… but he'd practiced religiously with it during the two day journey. It didn't behave drastically different, but he was still adjusting to its increased range and stopping power. He could consistently hit targets at thirty meters, but anything past fifty meters was relatively safe from him.

Link looked at the map… Talon eagerly fondled his axe.

"Sheik, I want you to scale the wall here, and create a diversion on the western wall, keep them occupied.

I will slip over the wall, here, on the eastern side, and kill the moblin sentries, then unbar the gate and let Talon in. We head for the stables, and get the prisoners on horses, and try to maintain the element of surprise.

After we've gotten the prisoners out, meet up with us three miles east, near the brook," Link told Sheik.

Talon tested the edge of his axe, "My part's simple. I like it."

Navi rolled her eyes, but due to her size, none except Sheik noticed.

Link perched atop the wall, and dropped another Moblin with an arrow through its eye. He drew again, sighting up on the Moblin beside his first target… and missed. In the dark, the moblin was still trying to figure out what had happened when a spike lodged in its throat. The poison brought the dog-faced monster down in a matter of moments. Link didn't see where Sheik had thrown the weapon from.

Talon waited outside the gates impatiently, nervous of stalhounds picking up his scent, now that Sheik wasn't concealing them. He really didn't like dogs, or dog-like things, not since childhood. Where was that damned forest demon? Talon had a sneaking suspicion that the kokiri might _not_ open the gates, and might, at this _very moment_ be carrying Malon over the northern wall. The fool girl would probably go along with it, just to spite him—

Wood was shifted quietly, and the gates eased open slightly. The kokiri stuck his head out, and motioned for Talon to come along. Talon continued thinking dark thoughts as he passed several headless bodies, before a couple of Moblins distracted him from his thoughts, and following the demon into the stables.

Link rolled under his opponent's swing, parried with the Master Sword, and spun, cutting the monster in half. The Master Sword could _cut_. He'd hardly had to apply any force to the strike… Link flicked blood off his sword and wiped it clean on the dead monster's jerkin. Talon barged into the stables, laughing, blood dripping off his battle axe. Upon seeing him, the prisoners cheered, "Talon!" they cried.

"You didn't think I just _forgot_ about you ugly bastards?" Talon shouted jokingly.

_Except at the bottom of a bottle, _Navi thought snidely.

Link tossed Talon one set of keys. He saw a flash of red hair in the stable's gloom, and he headed right for it.

Malon looked up, seeing a young man bearing down on her. She didn't recognize him, but the intensity in his gaze scared her. He quickly unlocked the man next to her, then her own shackles, handing the key to the man he'd freed, never taking his eyes off her. "Thank you, sir, for your assistance. I will take my leave-" Malon, stammered, cut off when he wrapped her in tight embrace. "Please, sir-" _Where's my bow? Or a knife?_

"You're still wearing my bracelet, Malon," he whispered in her ear.

His bracelet? She only wore the bracelet the demon had-

"Link?" she whispered.

"I said I'd like to see you again," he replied, and she caught the smell of leaves after the rain…

"Link!" she cried, and returned the embrace.

Talon ambled down the line of prisoners, and found that a woman with red hair was _very_ passionately kissing the demon. They didn't seem to be aware that everyone else was staring. Eventually, they did have to breathe though.

"Ahem, demon, that's my daughter yer kissing," Talon observed.

"Noticed that, did you?" Malon remarked snidely.

"Now listen here, girl," Talon started,

"No, _you_ listen, _papa_. I've had to grow up the hard way. Who I kiss is _my_ business, and _none_ of yours," she seethed.

Talon was taken aback by the venom, but not surprised. She hadn't turned into a hellion over night.

Link looked at Talon, "Get these people ready to leave. We can't stay here."

He stood at the door, peering out at the fire that was threatening to consume the entire compound, starting with the crude leather tents of the moblins.

"I believe I might have been _too_ successful in my distraction," a shadow said, peeling itself off the side of the stables.

Link shrugged, "We'll be gone before it reaches us."

Sheik nodded absently, toying with one of her poisoned throwing spikes idly.

Princess Zelda sighed, and massaged the bridge of her nose. "You are certain of this?" she asked. The Shiekah scout nodded slowly, "Yes, milady."

"Thank you, Lito," she said absently, and looked back at her campaign map. Dismissed, the warrior bowed, and left the room. Ganon's hordes had destroyed Ecilis, a smaller village near the edges of the Kokiri Forest… on suspicion of aiding the "enemy." She had failed her people again, and it would not be the last time… but others still needed her.

Sheik glared at Link, "We cannot accompany them back to the camps. It would add several days to our journey, and place both of us at greater risk."

He'd just _found_ her again. Letting go…

"We go to face great evil. Would you endanger Malon simply to ease your own heart?" Navi asked, agreeing with the Sheikah. It took several more minutes of persuasion before Link agreed to Navi's advice… but watching the group of rebels and horses disappear over the next hill tore at several of the wounds that had begun to scab… wounds inflicted by the Phantom and his poisonous words. Others needed their help… and Malon _could_ take care of herself, Link knew. The occasional rescue was tolerated, he had found. Protective smothering during the last two days had quickly earned her ire.


	10. Chapter 10 That Which Endures

The Moblins that guarded Death Mountain were _extremely_ lax. Shiek didn't understand how two of Princess Zelda's spies had been discovered, or killed, by such incompetent creatures… and that worried her. Perhaps she was missing something… they had met no serious challenges infiltrating Death Mountain itself. If anything, the _Tektites_ along the slopes and mountain path had been a greater threat.

Link watched the gorons tirelessly toiling away in the mine, using picks and hammers to shatter the rock, and carry the iron ore over to large carts. Once a cart was full, a young goron would start pushing it back up the tracks to the surface. Link still had seen no sign of Darunia.

"Do you see your friend?" Sheik asked quietly. The sulfur smell in the air was thick, and had coated the back of her throat, making every breath burn like fire.

"No." was the only answer she received. It was starting to get irritating. She had no idea what this Darunia was supposed to look like, and besides, most Gorons looked identical. Link slunk deeper into the mine tunnels, the press of rock making him anxious.

Another goron directed him deeper, down one of the side passages. Six minutes later, Link saw a familiar shape in the gloom. "Darunia?" Link called.

A burly goron turned, and spotted a pair of _Hylian_'s, of all things, bearing down on him. "How the hell did you sneak your pasty faces past the guards?" he demanded, curious.

"Nice to see you again too, Darunia," the male said. His voice was annoyingly familiar… as well as his mannerisms…

The male seemed to take pity on him, which irritated the proud goron, "Last time I saw you, I was only…" he indicated a height of less than four feet, "and I still had a tail."

Darunia felt the blood drain from his face. It couldn't be… he grabbed the man's face in one of his huge hands, and inhaled. Among all of the other scents of the caverns, the giant weakly discerned the aroma he had associated with the forest-demon all those years ago… and a goron never forgets… but the man's scent had changed slightly.

"You stink of horses," Darunia complained, releasing the man.

"How did the Dark-man enslave the gorons? I'd think your people would be a hard prize to seize, between your defensible location and rocky hides," Sheik asked.

Darunia glowered at the rock in his hand, before chomping down on it,

"Volvagia, that's how," he growled between bits of gravel.

"Who is Volvagia?" Navi asked, curious.

"Not who, what," Darunia rumbled.

Link rolled his eyes, "Very well, _what_ is Volvagia?"

"A _dragon_," the goron whispered intently, "nearly sixty feet long, with big jaws, strong arms, and a powerful, serpentine body. It's got a nasty set of horns, like a ram's, and a flaming mane."

"King Dodongo sounds like it was bigger and we didn't have too much trouble with him… why didn't you kill Volvagia?" Link asked.

Darunia grimaced, "Volvagia's _much_ smarter, faster, and sneakier. Worse, as near as I can tell, Ganondorf somehow channeled the power of our volcano to resurrect the damned dragon, so it's a god-damned powerhouse."

Link frowned at his meal, "Ganondorf perverted the Forest Medallion to craft a Phantom, which guarded and corrupted the Forest Temple. Could he have used the Fire Medallion to resurrect this monster?"

Darunia stroked his chin, which caused a nerve wracking grating noise, thinking… "It's possible," he conceded.

"How the Defiler accomplished this is less important than how we can destroy it," Sheik interjected.

Darunia ignored the female Sheikah, looking at Link, "When Ganondorf conquered the mountain, he stripped us of our weapons, and any metal, but even bare-handed, we can rip these stupid moblins limb from limb… I'd lose a lot of my people, but it could be done…"

Link slowly smiled, "You already thought of a better way though,"

Darunia grinned broadly, and pulled out a small object, hidden behind a nearby rock.

"It's a bomb flower, only grows in the hottest caves. We're the only ones who venture into those caverns, so the ugly bastards don't even know we have 'em. The problem is that dragon…" Darunia said.

Link looked at the device. It was as big as his fist, with a stem and leaves projecting out the top of the waxy black ball.

"What's a bomb?" Link asked, curious, poking at it with his finger.

Darunia sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He had a lot of explaining ahead of him…

"So… we have no idea how to kill the dragon?" Sheik asked, incredulous. Darunia looked uncomfortable, "Well… no. Not really…"

Link touched the master sword, "What about decapitation?"

The big goron chuckled, "Get anywhere _near_ that bastard's neck, and you'll be so crispy a stiff breeze could blow you apart."

"You said Ganondorf _resurrected _Volvagia. Does that mean someone else managed to kill it?" Sheik asked.

"Well, it was a long time ago… but…" Darunia said slowly.

"Boss!" a goron scrambled into the chamber, "We got a problem!"

"What Divik?" the chieftain growled.

"Volvagia's on the move!" the goron said, trembling.

"WHAT?!"

Divik cowered from his leader's anger, "Yorin and some of the others were late reporting in, so the moblins told Volvagia, and now it's coming!"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Darunia roared, pushing the goron aside, and pounding down the tunnel. Link and Sheik barely kept up with the large goron.

Darunia trembled in rage, staring down at the… execution. Seven gorons were chained to posts in the ground. That's not what kept them from fleeing though, for such is like paper to a goron's strength… no, if they ran Volvagia would eat their _children_ instead.

"What's the plan?" a voice asked at his elbow.

"There is no plan. We watch them die. Then we _wait_, for the _perfect _moment to strike," Darunia said bitterly.

"There is nothing we can do?" Link asked insistently. When the kokiri saw the pain in his friend's eyes, he stopped asking, and simply watched. Sheik stood behind him. She could not look away.

Presently, a rumble shook the cavern, and a large tunnel began to glow. From it crawled… a monster. Darunia's description of Volvagia hardly did it justice. It resembled a snake, with such a long, serpentine body, propelled by its coils, and two muscular arms closer to the head.

The snake-like head peered down at the gorons, who, although on their knees, and facing death, did not flinch, or tremble. They were warriors, children of the stone. The strike was quick, like a snake. Link's face blanched, as the jaws sheared a goron in half, and bore the struggling top half of the still living warrior up, and tilted back its head, swallowing the warrior like a heron would a frog. The fallen legs still spastically moved, dark green blood spread across the stone.

Link heard a choking nose behind him, and remembered Sheik.

Her eyes burned with hatred, as she watched the execution. She had seen her parents die in similar fashion.

"The Megaton hammer killed it last time," Darunia growled, his eyes fixed on the green stained stone, all that was left of seven brave warriors. Volvagia had already returned to his lair, and the Moblins were driving the unarmed Gorons back to work. The demonstration was over.

"Where is this hammer?" Link asked.

"Somewhere in the Fire temple. Where that _thing_ sleeps."

Navi grimaced. Great. They were going somewhere even _hotter_.

"My magic can shield me from the heat, but I cannot assist you," Sheik told Link softly.

"I can help with that," Darunia said mysteriously.

"How?" Navi asked, curious.

"Well… I was working on a ring… but I never got around to finishing it, the King being dead, and all…" Darunia said slowly.

"I fail to see how a ring will help the Hero," Sheik said flatly.

"Because it's a _magic_ ring, idiot," Darunia said, as if explaining something to a child.

"Magic or not, it's incomplete?" Link interrupted.

"Yeah. It was meant to symbolize the King's status as a Sworn-Brother. It has our seal on it. I was making it so the King could visit us, apparently, its too _hot_ here," Darunia chuckled.

"What does it do?" Link asked.

"Well, it helps shield the wearer from heat and fire… it was supposed to make the wearer just like a Goron; tireless, fireproof, strong, with skin as hard as rock…" Darunia's eyes slightly glazed, thinking back.

"So what _does_ it do?" Link asked.

Darunia shifted, "Well, it makes you fire _resistant_, and puts an extra spring in your step… but that's it…"

"That's still better than nothing," Navi observed.

"So, where is it?" Link asked.

"Well…" Darunia said reluctantly.

Sheik crept through the darkness, wrapping her physical form with the shadows around her, to avoid detection. The goron elder was under the assumption shiekah could teleport wherever they chose, which was incorrect. Unless she had already been there, and knew the layout of her destination, she couldn't do it. Impa could teleport half-way across Hyrule in a single jump, _with_ passengers. Sheik could barely travel a hundred meters, solo. Of the four Sheikah survivors, she was the weakest, the most _average_. Being the youngest also didn't help. A moblin turned its piggish snout, snorting softly, trying to spot what it had smelled…

Sheik didn't halt, secure in the shadows. This may have been the domain of Fire, but so much misery and death had soaked this place, that the Shadow warrior had ample power.

She felt… annoyance… to be sent to _fetch_ a magic bauble. As if she was merely a talented courier, or sneak-thief.

She followed the Goron's directions, and found that the door to the Elder's room had been smashed. Part of the ceiling had also been collapsed, marked by massive claws, the work of Volvagia, no doubt.

There were still gaps though… and Sheik slowly pressed herself against the rubble, dissolving into particles of shadow, trickling through the pile of rubble, like water or sand. Slow, inexorable…

She was blind, deaf, reduced only to a sense of touch. When she stretched out, feeling that she had sufficient room, she coalesced back into a young woman. The strain of the magic took its toll, but she was equal to it, and rose, her eyes missing nothing in the darkness.

Darunia's chambers, aside from the damage to the entrance, were relatively untouched. Sheik was thankful for how bare Goron tastes were, searching under rugs, and in a few stone vases, eventually locating a bulky gold ring. One rim was smooth, the other had coronels, like a crown around the band. On one side was the symbol of the Gorons. It matched the description, and Sheik could feel a large amount of fire magic contained within it. She closed her hand over the ring, and was faced with a dilemma. The magic of the ring wasn't compatible with her Shadow magic. She wouldn't be able to phase through the rubble with it, the band would remain solid. She considered teleportation… there hadn't been any guards _directly _near the collapsed chambers… but she wouldn't know until she jumped. Not to mention, she would be visible for several seconds, before she could cloak herself with shadows.

She didn't have a lot of options… With a sigh, Sheik reached for her magic, and forced herself into nonexistence, before snapping back into reality, on the other side of the rubble. The amount of energy needed for the teleport dropped her to her knees with weariness, but she scrambled to pull the shadows around her. Feet approached as she finished, and a group of ten moblins passed, deep in conversation.

Link jerked as the shadows next to him shifted, revealing Sheik. She opened her hand, a band of gold glinting in her palm.

"Is this it?" Link asked Darunia. The goron squinted.

"Yeah, that's the one," he confirmed.

Link slipped the large ring over his right thumb, comfortable with the fit. Immediately, he did feel more comfortable. _A lot_ more comfortable, and he felt a surge of energy, bolstering his stamina.

"Now, it wasn't finished," Darunia said defensively.

"No, it's amazing. I wished I had this thing seven years ago," Link assured him. It would have made the Dodongo cavern more bearable. Navi felt cooler as well, hiding within Link's hood. Presumably a bubble…

"Divik, just get everyone ready, start distributing the bomb-flowers," Darunia said patiently, "When we return with the hammer, I want everyone ready for a fight."

The goron nodded grimly, "And what of Link?" he asked.

"I'll be with Darunia," Link said, off guard.

"What?" the goron asked, confused.

"I named my firstborn after you," Darunia admitted.

"Keep my son close, watch out for him, but he's old enough to fight," Darunia said.

As Darunia led the infiltrators through abandoned tunnels, moving deeper into the mountain, Link smirked, "I didn't realize I made such an impression on you, Darunia."

"I couldn't think of anything better to call him," Darunia said gruffly, "Now shut up, sound echoes in these tunnels," the goron hissed.

"We'll be have'n words about your… lapse of judgment," Talon said darkly.

"Like hell we will," Malon snorted, seeing to Epona, her horse.

They were close to one of the rebel camps now, only a day away.

"I'm a tolerant man," Talon started, and Malon jumped in, heading off the lengthy monologue, "You're no such thing."

"I _am_, but I'll not watch my daughter running off with some _forest demon_. Letting you wear britches was bad enough," Talon said, glaring at the leather pants Malon wore. They were more comfortable than divided skirts, when riding on horseback, or more accurately, shooting a shortbow from horseback at moblin spearmen.

"We'll not have this conversation again," Malon said coldly, "And if you don't like it, you can disown me, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other."

"_Just_ _like your mother_," Talon spat, chewing on his moustache angrily.

"Besides, Link's not a demon right now," Malon pointed out logically.

"Jus 'cause he doesn't _look_ like a demon don't change _a thing_," Talon growled.

"This is why I don't talk to you. Your mind's made up, and you won't listen," Malon snarled.

Talon watched his daughter leaving him, heading for one of the cooking fires. He just wanted what was best for her. Why couldn't she see that? This wouldn't end well, but she was damned determined to get herself hurt.

Sheik was forced to use more and more magic to keep the heat at bay, as they descended deeper into the mountain. Link had asked if Volvagia used these passages, but Darunia shook his head, this was a "back way" into the Temple. Sheik saw that the tunnel ahead was starting to brighten. They emerged onto a ledge, overlooking a lake of lava. Link saw a massive peninsula of rock on the far side of the cavern. A sprawling stone temple spilled from the cavern wall, and out onto the peninsula.

"The _Fire_ _Temple_," Darunia said proudly.

"How do we get over there?" Navi wondered.

Darunia looked at Sheik expectantly.

"No. I've never teleported that far, and never with passengers," the young sheikah protested. It was at least four hundred meters to the closest _edge_ of the peninsula.

"Well… that leaves the long way," Darunia sighed, pointing. Fifty meters below their ledge, a narrow lip of rock circled the cavern, eventually connecting with the peninsula. The cavern wall had plenty of handholds. The three intruders quickly scaled down to the foot path, which was only a meter wide. Forty meters below the path, lava bubbled ominously.

The group ascended the wide, carved stones towards the wide entrance. Huge pillars seemed to support the enormous stone roof.

"It's… big," Navi said diplomatically. The Fire temple lacked the inherent elegance of the Forest Temple, apparently, bigger was better.

"Now, I didn't want to scare you off, but when my ancestors built this temple, they left… traps… to discourage treasure hunters," Darunia said darkly.

"Wouldn't the location have done that?" Navi asked.

Darunia shrugged.

"Do you know what the traps were?" Link asked.

"It's been centuries…" Darunia said helplessly.

"Then it is in our best interest to find the hammer quickly," Navi observed.

"Well, it'll be the most secure room of the temple…" Darunia mused.

"We're wasting time," Sheik said impatiently.

The temperature decreased slightly, away from the lava, but Sheik was still expending a moderate portion of her power to keep from being roasted alive.

The main hall of the temple was enormous, almost a hundred meters long, with thick columns spaced ever ten meters, to support the high ceiling. Careless claws had gouged the stone floor, repeatedly.

The hall was actually shaped like a T. The claw marks went left, through a vaulted archway. The archway to the right was much smaller… possibly too small for the dragon to pass through…

"The bones of Volvagia were kept in the temple, as trophies. I assume to the left, which means the archway on the right probably leads to the hammer," Darunia whispered.

"Ladies first," Link said, looking at the Sheikah. Despite only having her eyes exposed, the woman managed to make her irritation felt with a glance.

"You're faster," Link said defensively. The shadow-warrior stalked through the archway first. It led into a short, rough hewn tunnel. At the end was a metal door, which had rusted somewhat from time, preserved by the near total absence of any humidity in the air. It was also locked.

"I don't have a key," Darunia said, when Sheik looked at him.

The sheikah crouched by the lock, and shadows pulsed in her hand, flowing into the lock. With a grunt, she twisted her fist, and the lock screamed in protest… but disengaged. Darunia gave the door a solid kick, loosening it in the frame it had rusted too. On the third kick, the door squealed open. Link was looking down the tunnel nervously, wary of the noise, but no angry dragon came to investigate.

Sheik went first. The room was dark, but that didn't mean anything to her. It was as large as the entrance hall, if only half the height… and ranks of statues… there were hundreds.

"Armos," Darunia whispered, "Let's _not_ wake them up."

Sheik had heard of the enchanted warrior statues. They remained inert, unless touched, or given a command. They were also very hard to destroy, and very, very strong. Each statue was slightly taller than a goron, standing at roughly two and a half meters in height. Their metal shields and clubs had rusted slightly, just as the door had. Considering they were centuries old, it was impressive that the equipment had endured so well. The _thieves_ carefully slipped through the perfectly spaced ranks of slumbering weapons. Half-way across the rooms, a shudder ran through the room.

"That didn't sound good…" Darunia said.

Simultaneously, six hundred statues rolled their shoulders in the exact same way, then their necks. Dust drifted from their forms, and weapons were raised.

"Run," Navi whispered.

Sheik led the way. On the far side of the room, she could see another metal door, and she desperately hoped it wasn't locked. Instead of weaving through the forest of legs and clubs, the agile warrior vaulted up, and ran across the shoulders and heads of the closely spaced statues.

Link felt a pang of envy, until an oversized metal club nearly took his head off, and he focused on staying alive. Navi noticed that none of the statues were trying to harm Darunia. They ignored him, even as he pushed through, trying to keep up with Link and Sheik… and the Armos let him.

Sheik reached the door ahead of Link by several seconds. It was locked. She shoved her magic into the lock, but this one was apparently made of _sterner stuff_, as she struggled to force the lock.

"Sheik!" Link yelled, and the girl ducked. A metal club swept over her head, then the master sword chimed against stone, and a heavy arm thudded to the floor, still holding its weapon. The injured armos bellowed, and tried to crush Link with its massive tower shield. Link ducked to the side, cutting the shield in half. That was a mistake.

The armos, now with a more convenient buckler-sized shield, clipped the Hero of Time's weapon. The master sword spun from his hand, and embedded itself up to the hilt in the leg of another armos, hardly slowing it. Link wove his way towards his weapon. Armos were powerful, but deliberate fighters, with a limited set of movements… which Link was starting to recognize. He lunged forward over a club, grabbed the master sword, and jerked, cutting it out of the leg. The armos stumbled, and Link dodged behind it. The armos swinging at him clumsily hit the ground with its club to avoid smashing the damaged armos. Link scrambled up onto the kneeling armos, and jumped, landing beside Sheik, who had failed to force the lock, couldn't open the door.

"Move!" Darunia shouted, plucking the metal club from the amputated arm, and swung the heavy weapon like a toy, smashing the door. The sound was deafening… but the door didn't budge. Link cut another Armos's leg off at the knee. Darunia stared at the door. To a goron, anything could be broken, with enough force. To encounter something that _couldn't be broken_… it was like a bird learning that it could not fly, as it fell towards the hard ground below.

Thankfully, Link did not have to rely on Darunia. Sheik had seen something: a small tunnel, only half a meter in diameter.

"Link!" she cried, pointing. His eyes may have once been kokiri, but he still had difficulty seeing in the dark.

"What is it?" he asked, frantically dodging a flailing club. If it hit him, he was dead, chainmail or not.

Sheik grabbed his free hand, and pulled, dragging him towards the tunnel. She hoped it wasn't just a bubble in the rock, or a dead end. If it was… but Sheik dove headfirst into the tunnel, gracefully shooting down the steeply angled chute. Link scrambled behind her, careful to avoid stabbing her with the keen sword in his hand. The walls were as smooth as glass. No pick, nor chisel and hammer had made this passage.

Darunia elbowed his way through the armos, "Where'd they go?" he muttered to himself, surprised when one statue pointed mutely at a small hole. Too small for the massive, broad shouldered statues to pursue through… hell, too small for _him_ as well.

He felt the edges of the tunnel, and cursed loudly. _Torch slugs_.

"Link?" he bellowed into the tunnel.

"What?" his friend called back.

"You're in a torch slug hole!" Darunia told him.

"Okay… stay where you are, I'll come back to get you," Link told him. Darunia didn't understand. Were they going to open the door from the other side?

"What are you doing?" Sheik asked. Link was tracing his fingers on the stone of the tunnel they'd fallen into, and she could feel something stirring at his touch… but it didn't feel like any of the six magical elements she was familiar with. With a flash, green light briefly illuminated the symbol, before fading. She recognized the symbol… _Farore?_ What did that mean?

Link sheathed his sword, and looked up at the _torch slug_ hole above them.

The walls were _very_ smooth. He glanced down at his heavy leather boots. They would make climbing difficult. He sat down on a nearby rock, and slipped the straps on his hardboiled leather greaves, and pulled the boots off, wiggling his toes.

"What are you doing?" Sheik asked.

"I'm getting Darunia… uh… could you give me a boost?" he asked, distracted.

She had been relegated to a stepladder.

The shadow-warrior stonily crouched. Link stepped onto her shoulders, Sheik was thin, but her body was wiry muscle, as strong as most men. She stood with minimal difficulty, and Link balanced on her shoulders, up to his waist in the torch slug hole. He hopped up, and with a scrambling noise, began his ascent.

_Stay here. Right_… Darunia thought, annoyed. Stay here and wait for them to retrieve the hammer _for him?_ He took another look at the door. He felt it over with his massive fingers, and rapped on the door, gauging it to be at least eight inches thick.

"Darunia!" someone whisperer harshly. The goron looked back over at the hole, which flashed briefly, with a blue light. Why'd the grown up forest shanker climb all the way back up? Unless… did he have the key for the door? _Clever little demon_.

Darunia trotted over, as the Armos milled around, unable to pinpoint the whisper.

"What are you doing?" Darunia hissed.

Link held his hand out, "Take my hand," he said.

Darunia suspected Link had hit his head falling down the torch slug hole. Possibly multiple times…

"You can't pull me through the hole…" Darunia grumbled.

"Just take my hand, damn it," Link hissed.

Darunia sighed, and grabbed the man's little hand, his own hand swallowed up most of the man's gauntlets as well.

Link grinned at him, and Darunia felt a sudden sense of _falling_.

_What the—?_

Sheik practically jumped out of her skin when a flash of green light and a peal of musical notes burst behind her. She spun, and saw Link, standing next to a trembling Darunia.

"Wh-wh-what the hell was _that?_" Darunia gasped, looking weak-kneed.

"Farore's Wind, it's a type of teleport spell," Link chuckled.

Darunia didn't think it was funny: _"Bastard." _

Sheik cleared her throat, "Where are we?" she asked pointedly.

Darunia looked at the rough tunnel walls, "Looks like an _old_ mining tunnel… probably sealed up after they finished the Temple…"

"What's a torch slug?" Navi asked. She had thought her mental bestiary extensive, but she had never heard of such a creature, unless it was a local name for a more common creature…

"A nasty little critter. They don't bother us much, but to outsiders, they're a serious threat," Darunia said, rubbing his jaw.

"Details, please," Link said.

"They're… about this long," Darunia held his hand roughly two meters above the tunnel floor, "and this wide around," Darunia held his hands half a meter apart.

"They sort of look like lava, but they're not… they can increase the temperature of their slime, melting tunnels in the rock. They eat the same rocks we do, making them vermin," Darunia explained.

"How do you kill them?" Sheik asked, fiddling with her tanto.

"We just step on them until they stop moving," Darunia shrugged.

"I've never heard of them," Navi admitted.

"You probably wouldn't… they don't venture to the surface, its too cold."

A light was beginning to grow at one end of the tunnel, and Navi watched it, curious.

"Speak of the devil, here comes one now," Darunia said, walking forward. It really did look like a slug, Link thought. It had two eyes on stalks, but its skin glowed as if made of molten metal, and it left a fading trail of glowing… slime? Behind it. The glow disappeared as the material cooled. It saw Darunia, and wriggled at him aggressively. The goron elder stood still, and as the torch slug closed with him, he jumped up into the air, curling into a ball… which landed on the slug with explosive force, popping the creature like a pustule, splattering superheated goop in a wide arc, forcing Link and Sheik to scramble away.

Darunia sat up in the middle of the mess, brushing off his arms, "See? Nothing to it…"

"If you're fire proof," Navi observed darkly, flicking her wings in irritation. She'd almost been hit by one of the flaming globs.

"Oh stop whining," Darunia said, slapping torch slug giblets off his backside.

"We need to find a way back up into the temple," Sheik said, carefully avoiding the glowing puddles on the floor, as she followed the goron elder.

The mining tunnel's floor began to slope down… and they needed to go _up…_

"If Death mountain is so riddled with tunnels, why hasn't it simply collapsed?" Link asked.

"That's the beauty of it, every century or so, the volcano at the heart of our mountain… stirs… and it fills most of the lower tunnels, replenishing the ores and sealing up those tunnels, for us to dig anew," Darunia said proudly.

"I would think living in an active volcano… dangerous," Sheik said.

"It only explodes if enough pressure builds up. As long as we keep digging tunnels, the volcano will keep seeping. We might get some _minor_ eruptions, but nothing that will blow the top off the mountain," the goron shrugged. Link remembered being on the receiving end of a _minor_ eruption.

The mining tunnel had begun to level out, and at first, Link thought more torch slugs were coming, but the glow turned out to be actual lava.

The cavern was vast, easily capable of swallowing the Temple above it, with room to spare. A metal cart sat on metal tracks, suspended over the lava on islands of stone. More tracks flowed from tunnels in the sides of the cavern, leading into unknown darkness.

"This was the hub…" Darunia said, pushing the cart a little, noting that its wheels had rusted enough to interfere with their rotation.

Link eyed the tracks, spaced half a meter apart, with metal cross beams every meter. He didn't particularly enjoy the idea of walking on the rails like tight ropes…

"There should have been a lift somewhere, to get the ore to the surface," Darunia muttered. All of the tracks flowed together, heading away from them.

"I'd guess that way," Darunia said, pointing straight ahead.

"Terrific," Link sighed.

Despite Darunia's weight, the tracks didn't sway beneath them as they walked, despite how few supports were present. It was a testament to goron metallurgy. Although _walked_ was too elegant a term. Darunia's wide stride wasn't affected, but Link and Sheik had to sway slightly as they walked, their feet _just_ far enough apart to make the movement uncomfortable. After five minutes, the group reached a tunnel mouth, and gratefully stepped onto stone once more, the inner muscles of their thighs sore. The tracks continued to lead them forward.

Link felt the ground begin to slope beneath his boots again, before they entered another cavern. This one was _much_ smaller than the one they'd left, only a quarter of the size.

"See, the lift," Darunia said.

The lift had been a square platform of thick metal, mounted to four pillars with some kind of ratcheting track system. _Had been_. Someone had taken a hammer to the rugged components, breaking and jamming them. Sheik looked up the shaft. It was a long way up… they could use the teeth of the ratchets for handholds… but it was _still a long way up_.

"We climb," she said grimly.

As a Kokiri, Link had enjoyed climbing. Now, normally those climbs only lasted fifteen or twenty seconds, with convenient branches to rest upon… and the fall would hurt, but probably wasn't fatal. This though, wasn't climbing, they were _ascending_. Link didn't look down, it would just depress him. Instead, he kept his eye on the prize above him… _very far above_ him.

The goron ring was helping to buffer his fatigue, but the ring couldn't eliminate it completely. He was impressed that the girl above him showed no signs of fatigue, never deviating from her moderate tempo. She wasn't climbing _quickly_, not like a kokiri might, but she hadn't slowed down either. He was still curious to see how a Sheikah actually fought. None of Sheik's weapons looked large enough to really be taken seriously, and he thought that, coming from a _kokiri's_ point of view. What good was chain, anyway?

Link could feel his arms begin to tremble, despite his training, and the ring. He saw Sheik's legs disappear, and it took him a moment to realize what it meant. They were at the top. Link forced himself higher, with new energy, now that relief was in sight.

Sheik's hand grabbed his baldric, and helped haul him over the lip of the passage, onto solid ground. A few moments later, Darunia joined them. Sheik wondered if gorons _could_ be fatigued by exertion. The tunnel they had emerged from wasn't rough hewn, but rather, it was made of interlocked tiles. They were back in the Temple, which explained why the lift had been sabotaged.

Link sat, rubbing his arms quietly, taking a breather. She had been forced to draw on more of her shadow power to bolster her endurance.

The door was locked, but Sheik was able to force the mechanism, and Darunia lent a foot to open the door. The trio (plus one faerie) edged into the next room, wary of more traps. High walls rose above them, but did not reach the cavern ceiling.

"What is this place?" Link whispered.

Navi flew from his collar, fighting the evil and heat of the air, rising up. It was a maze. She told Link as much, when she slipped back into his hood, away from the burning air.

What was it with ancient temple builders and mazes? Bad things happened in mazes. Link felt something shift under his foot, and thunder rolled behind them.

"Run!" Link yelled, as the massive stone ball rolled towards them. Sheik scrambled along the tops of the thin walls, calling down directions as she ran, guiding Link and Darunia.

"Left!" she shouted. The right was a dead end.

The stone smashed into retaining sockets. A wall of fire suddenly erupted, but both males were running too fast to avoid it. Darunia wasn't affected, and Link only looked slightly scorched, but not incinerated.

Sheik was on the lookout now for the faint lines that betrayed the position of the fire traps. At the next one, Sheik warned them, and Darunia carried Link above his head, keeping the Hero above the flames.

It seemed these traps had not been geared towards _gorons_.

"Look out!" Sheik shouted, as a pillar suddenly erupted from the ground, and fire spun from it, filling the area around the pillar with fire. Link rolled under it, his tunic smoldering, and Darunia simply ran through. There was a door up ahead, and Sheik directed the pair towards it, vaulting across three walls, to get ahead of them. She dropped down, absorbing the long fall in a roll, and yet more shadow magic. She was rapidly approaching her limits in this death trap. The door wasn't locked… and that worried her. Darunia kicked the door open for them. The giant rolling stone behind them blocked off the doorway with a thunderous finality.

_"Now_ where are we?" Link wondered. Navi's glow was the only source of light in the room.

Sheik thought the room was empty, but on closer inspection, one of the walls seemed strange. As she walked towards it, she felt the floor twitch. Stone tiles that covered the floor began to hover, spinning. She could sense the fire magic empowering them. Each tile was only the size of her hand, but as thick as a finger. She let her chain spool from her wrist, and drew her tanto. She didn't have enough energy to risk phasing… so she would have to resort to more direct means.

The tiles flew towards the intruders in staggered salvos of ten to twenty at a time.

Link smacked tiles out of the air with the flat of his blade, shattering them, while Darunia snatched and blocked them with his hands.

Sheik seemed to wriggle, contorting her body to avoid the tiles, her chain deflecting those she couldn't avoid, and her tanto shattering those she couldn't deflect.

Link had wanted to know what use a chain was, and now he was seeing first hand its effect. At least, in Sheik's hands, it was a potent tool… but not a weapon.

Link paid for his distraction, as a tile glanced off Darunia's thumb, leaving a deep gash across Link's forehead, and ringing in his ears.

_Damn…_ he sat down hard, losing his sense of balance, as the headache exploded behind his eyes.

By the time Navi had taken the edge off his concussion, the room was covered with bits of tile, and the floor was uneven.

"Heavy defenses for an empty room," Sheik noted calmly, coiling the chain back around her arm.

"That's not a wall," Darunia said, pointing. He ran his hands along the stone, before grunting with satisfaction. He pressed down on part of the mosaic, depicting a battle against a dragon, probably Volvagia. Darunia had pressed a figure of a goron with a simplistic looking hammer.

The wall shook slightly as it sank into the floor.

The room beyond was small, taken up by a simple altar, with goron motifs etched into it. Behind the altar was a locked door.

Resting atop the stone altar was what Link presumed was _the _hammer.

It was certainly massive enough. Link doubted anyone _but_ a goron could lift it, let alone _swing_ the hammer.

"Megaton's hammer…" Darunia said, awestruck. The warrior who had created and wielded the magical weapon had been named Darius, but the tribe had awarded him the title _Megaton_. The hammer's impact was greater than the force of its swing… tales had even claimed it could make the mountain itself tremble.

Darunia didn't feel worthy… but he needed this weapon, to send Volvagia back to the hell it had crawled from. His massive fingers curled around the handle… and strength filled him. Darunia lifted the hammer easily, and saw that Link looked stunned. Darunia frowned at him, "Never seen a mythical hammer before?"

Wordlessly, Link pointed at Darunia, and the goron looked down. His tribal tattoos were glowing with a ruddy light. Well, that had never happened before…

"We've got a dragon to slay," Darunia said eagerly. He cocked the hammer back, and introduced it to the locked door. Link fell as the room shook from the force of the blow. The door was gone. So was most of the wall around it too.

"Ah… Volvagia, it's been too long," Darunia said grimly, stepping through the rubble, hammer over his shoulder, whistling merrily. It was a good day for a revolt… a _very_ _good day_.

Divik froze, handing the bomb flower to Darunia's son, Link. He'd though he felt a tremor… but there was no after shock. Around him, more gorons were descending into the mines, to bring up crops of bomb flowers, instead of mining. The moblins had grown lax, merely guarding the mouth of the mines, content that the gorons would never _dare_ oppose them, as long as Volvagia could simply devour them all…

The goron warrior thought of all the friends he had lost to appease that monster's appetite. The rest of the miners were busy sharpening their pickaxes. They would have to move quickly and silently at first, until they could reach the slave quarters, to protect their children from retaliation. _Then_ they could spread out, and purge their mountain of Ganon's filth. Another tremor shook the tunnel, slightly stronger.

If there was a cave in… they didn't have enough munitions yet… and it would take too long for any trapped gorons to dig their way out, at least, in time to make a difference in the purge.

That's when Volvagia's roar reached him… and it sounded enraged.

Divik made a snap decision. The boss would come through for them… and he wasn't going to see anymore gorons eaten without a fight.

"We're out of time," Divik said flatly, and the other miners nodded grimly.

The moblin guards were staring away from the mine, down the causeway towards the city proper. Looking in the wrong direction. Over a hundred angry gorons quietly approached.

The shoddy picks broke as often as not, the flimsy wooden handles (flimsy by goron standards) couldn't handle the force of driving a half meter spike of metal into an armored moblin's head, straight through the helmet.

A few moblins squeaked, yelped, or screamed as the slaves implacably tore them apart, and no one had even used any bomb flowers yet.

The weapons were distributed, and like a rockslide with legs, the slaves boiled up out of the mines, and into _their_ city. Volvagia burst out of the archway across the plaza from them, which led to the Fire temple, and roared at the gorons… Divik and his warriors were between the monster, and the passages that led to the children, in the slave quarters. Moblins, rallied by the monster's roars, began to trickle down stairs, and out of stone homes that had once held goron families.

Divik looked at Link, "Take twenty warriors, and go protect the children," he snapped. The young goron didn't hesitate, and broke away, curling into a ball, rolling down the passage, with the thunder of four squads at his back. _Squads_, like they were an _army._ This amused Divik for some reason, as he turned back towards the dragon.

"_Nothing_ gets past! Got it?" Divik shouted. The gorons' reply shook the plaza, and a few stalactites high above actually tumbled loose, crashing to the plaza below like bomb flowers. The gorons ignored the annoyance. They were done _submitting_.

Link panted, trying to keep up with the rolling Goron. The hammer looked like an axel as Darunia banked, taking corners of the tunnel with reckless speed. The air had cooled enough that Sheik was able to focus her remaining energy on increasing her speed and stamina, barely maintaining her position several strides behind the goron elder.

Link lost sight of the pair after two more turns, but he had no trouble following the gouges in the stone floor from Darunia's armored back.

Darunia shot out of the tunnel, actually ramping due to his speed and upward angle, at the top of his arc he uncurled, and raised Megaton's hammer. Twenty feet below, moblins swarmed, trying to overcome his warriors. With a wordless cry, he landed among his foe, and Megaton shook the earth once more… Darunia rose from the shallow crater, feeling like a _god_. A god of _**vengeance**_. Moblins lay scattered around him, in various states of dismemberment, literally blasted apart by the force of the hammer, making it hard to tell how many there actually had been.

**"VOLVAGIA!"** Darunia roared, unaware that his voice had been magnified, shaking the pebbles at his feet.

The dragon propelled itself up onto the second tier of the underground city with its powerful tail, tore a chunk of stone from a house, and hurled it at him. Megaton swung, and a blast of sand enveloped the enraged chieftain.

The gorons rallied, cheering. Those in the back ranks threw bomb flowers over the heads of their brothers, blasting moblins apart, and breaking their cohesion, as they tried to overcome the united front of gorons. A few gorons fell, their dark green blood pooling among the moblin's blue blood, but the moblins were outmatched, and they knew it. Without Volvagia…

Darunia scrambled up a narrow set of stairs, charging the dragon, which continued to pummel him with masonry, trying to slow him down, or bury him.

Sheik flicked her chain around a larger moblin's ankle and pulled sharply, tripping the pig-man, where she quickly slit his throat, and darted to her next foe, while the moblin bled out. Behind her, a moblin was cut in half at the waist. Link pressed forward, his terrifying weapon slick with blood. She felt the ground shake sharply, and the dragon screamed, fleeing to the third level. Three moblins attacked Sheik, but she blinded them with a quick flash bomb, slitting their throats before their vision could recover.

"_Forward!"_ Divik screamed, putting action to words, swinging his pilfered sword into a moblin's face. Beside him, the line of gorons advanced, grinding against the moblins.

Darunia had it _cornered. _Volvagia had nowhere else to run, and so it turned, at last, to fight. Darunia didn't waste time with threats or taunts. The monster had lived too long already. The goron charged, and the dragon's jaws darted around him, avoiding his hammer, trying to maneuver around it, to bite Darunia in half. Twice the goron almost connected.

Then the dragon's clawed hand grabbed the handle of Megaton, and tried to wrest if from Darunia. The goron pulled sharply on the handle, which, impossibly, jerked the dragon forward, and Darunia awkwardly swung the hammer, connecting with the dragon's jaw, barely, knocking the dragon onto its back, stunned.

Darunia roared, and ran at Volvagia as it scrambled up. He couldn't get at its head, so he jumped, latching onto the flaming mane, and pulled himself up the bastard's back, ignoring the intense heat, hot enough to even harm a _goron_… somewhat. Volvagia clawed at him, trying to throw him off, but Darunia would not be thwarted, reeling himself up, until he could grab one of its horns.

"MEGATON!" he roared, and smacked the dragon's skull with the hammer. Then he was flying through the air, and realized the ground looked very far away. The horn in his fist began to lick his hand with blue flame, but he was still more concerned with the rapidly approaching ground. He was going to land among the moblins.

Well… obstacle or opportunity…

Link lost his footing _again_, when a screaming goron with a really big, magical hammer hit the ground sixty feet away. A rain of body parts ensued, and Link shielded his face with his hood, wincing from some of the hits. The moblins bits _had_ armor, after all.

"Now he's overdoing it," Navi complained.

The moblins fought desperately, realizing their master wouldn't be coming to save them.

They fought to the last, refusing to surrender… not that the gorons would have accepted it anyway.

Link sat down on a headless Moblin, breathing heavily. Around him, gorons were shouting, screaming, and just making a ruckus in general. Darunia found his little friend, wiping his sword clean.

"We did it," Darunia grinned, balancing Megaton across his shoulder.

"Well, you and that hammer did it," Link corrected, "Thanks for letting me play with some of the moblins."

"It was nothing," Darunia said, waving a hand dismissively, "Feel free to gut any of the piggies you see, my treat."

The chieftain looked at his people, looting the bodies of their enemies.

"Look at them," he whispered.

Link didn't know if he was looking for something in particular.

"That's the first time I've seen hope in a long time…" Darunia said happily.

Sheik poked amid the destruction of where the dragon had been killed, on Link's advice, ignoring the festivities. Sure enough, beneath a paving stone, she found a small medallion of reddish metal. One side bore the Tri-force seal, the other, the elemental symbol for fire. Moreover, she could _feel_ the sheer power of the medallion in her palm, without even having to probe it. She curled her fingers around the disk, and looked over the crowd for a distinctive war hammer….

"This is yours, I believe," a voice said behind Darunia. He turned, and the sheikah held a reddish medallion out to him. It had the elemental symbol of fire upon it. Cautiously, Darunia reached out. When his fingers brushed the metal, he felt a surge of strength, beyond even the Megaton, making his eyes widen… and then he heard words within his head.

_"I am Rauru, Sage of Light…"_

"_Awaken—"_

Knowledge flowed into Darunia's mind, the flood was disorienting, but not overwhelming, and when the visions slowed, the voice returned,

"—_Darunia, Sage of Fire."_

Darunia, descendant of Darius, the Megaton, Chieftain of the Gorons, took on another mantle as well: Sage of Fire…

And he would make Ganon _burn_ for his crimes.


	11. Chapter 11 Beneath the Ice

"Milady," Impa said, looking up from her gossip stone. "Milady?"

The princess's head was propped on her arms, as she slept in her chair at the war table. Impa hesitated in the doorway. It seemed like only a few years ago that the shadow-warrior had played nurse-maid to this powerful young woman.

Impa walked over to her sovereign, and gently touched the young woman's shoulder, "Milady."

"Wha—?" Zelda jerked upright, disorientated.

"Sheik has reported in," Impa said, holding up the gossip stone.

"What befell the Gorons?" Zelda asked, rubbing the sleep-grit from her eyes.

"Ganon resurrected a dragon, but it is dead now, and the gorons have begun to rearm. They will resume their raids within the week," Impa said, satisfied.

"And what of the sage? Was the Sage of Fire located?"

"Yes. It was Darunia, the chieftain," Impa said calmly.

"Also… Lito has something of interest to report," Impa said slowly…

Talon kept his battle axe close, standing guard over the two women. They were injured, but that didn't mean much for gerudo. The shadow demon in charge of this camp was staring at a rock in his hand, doing something spooky and unnatural, probably.

One of the women shifted uncomfortably, hissing slightly. Talon glared at her, testing the edge of his axe. The women stopped fidgeting.

Lito was Impa's son, but his mother didn't show favoritism. Responsibility was awarded based on ability, not lineage. He was the only sheikah who carried a straight sword, strapped to his back. Although not a _cruel_ man, he wasn't by nature merciful either… so he decided to inform his mother of the captives, let her decide their fate.

Talon's daughter had found them, and captured them easily, due to their injuries and lack of weapons. Lito felt mild curiosity, but nothing strong enough to spare the enemy fighters. Prisoners consumed resources he could not afford to waste… besides, if they escaped, they would pose a significant security risk…

Malon sat on a nearby rock, in clear view of the two prisoners, her short bow strung, and resting on her lap, an arrow on the string. When Ganon had come, like a sweeping blight across Hyrule, Lon Lon Ranch had been one of many settlements to be swallowed up. The gerudo took over management of the ranch, and at first, it seemed like life might return to normal… but Talon had a temper about him, and often said things he would regret later… especially under the whip of the overseer. Talon was banished from the ranch, on pain of death, and Mr. Ingo was selected as the new representative. He did his best, but he was weak, and cowardly at heart. The treatment of the workers grew worse, as well as the poor horses… the weakest mares and stallions were… _culled_, to strengthen the breeding stock. Malon hated the desert-thieves for that alone, but she had been a target, because of her red-hair.

She could speak the desert-tongue, after six years of the bitches beating it into her head, so that she would serve as their translator. If the sheikah commander was told to execute the women, she wondered if he'd let her do it. She caught them, after-all.

One of the women had locked eyes with her, and refused to look away. Malon hated their golden eyes, harsh, like a hawk's.

"What are you staring at?" Malon asked sharply.

"Bracelet," the staring woman said simply. Malon glanced down. The bracelet Link had given her had slipped out of her sleeve.

"Try and take it, I _dare you_," Malon hissed.

The woman shook her head, curious, "Who give bracelet?"

Malon lifted her chin, and refused to answer. The women glanced between each other, and she heard one of them mention _forest-demon_.

That couldn't be coincidence.

The talkative woman finally asked, "Did demon give bracelet?"

Malon stared at the woman stonily, refusing to answer.

Sejuno regarded the fiery hylian's silence as an affirmation. Nikaru was also looking at the woman, (she used the term loosely: the hylian was skinny and underfed, lacking the curves of a _real_ woman). So this is who her demon had rejected her for. It said little for his taste, but the girl possessed a warrior's heart. She was still a weakling compared to a gerudo, but less weak than her contemporaries.

The _shadow-demon_ looked up from his hand calmly, and gestured to the fire-haired wench. The girl rose, smiling savagely, drawing back her arrow.

"Wait," Sejuno said calmly, "We join you."

The shadow-demon turned around, curious enough to call off their executioner.

"You're lying," he said, his voice cool and almost soothing. A strange quality in a monster.

"I give word," Sejuno said, indignant. She had nothing to lose. Her weapons were gone, her horse taken, her tribe missing… she was nothing.

A gerudo does not fear death, but they do not seek it willingly, either.

The shadow-demon grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his red-violet eyes. A tattoo around his right eye glowed blood red, and a red slotted pupil began to glow, forming within his eye.

"Swear it," he hissed.

"Sejuno swear, join shadow-demon," she said, without reservation. The demon squinted into her eyes, as if searching… finally his tattoo dimmed, and he stepped away.

"She's telling the truth," he said, sounding bemused.

"Can I kill the other one?" the fire-haired wench asked, annoyed.

"Nikaru swear," the other woman said quickly.

The shadow demon sighed, and walked back over. After he was satisfied that Nikaru wasn't lying, he pulled out his little stone, and stared at it intently.

Sejuno didn't understand the full ramifications of what she'd done… but she suspected she would find out, soon.

Sheik rode the horse down the wagon trail the moblins had carved into the mountains. She was still incredulous that the young man clinging to her waist was terrified of horses… but the hero was full of contradictions.

Sheik pulled up at the camp, and Link gratefully dismounted. He was looking forward to real food, not more hard tack biscuits. It was apparently _breakfast _here. He joined the back of the line. An archer walked past, balancing a bowl of hot gruel, lest any of it spill. An archer with _red hair. _Link looked over, recognizing the girl.

"I didn't realize you were at _this_ camp," Link said mildly, trying not to startle her, and thus, waste the gruel.

Malon looked up, squeaked, and the bowl promptly slipped from her fingers. Link caught the bowl, and _most_ of the scalding gruel. He was still wearing the goron ring though, so it merely warmed his hands.

"Link!" Malon grabbed him, and he held his arms wide, bowl in his left hand. Both hands had gruel dripping from them, which he didn't want to smear on Malon's cloak.

Malon squeezed hard enough for both of them.

Malon stood next to her demon/man, mortified. Her hair was a mess, and she hadn't bathed yet. The little blue woman sat on his shoulder, and this close, Malon could actually see her expression. She was _smirking_. Malon had also gotten gruel all over his beautiful leather vambraces.

"When did you arrive?" Malon asked, trying to distract him while she hastily attempted to tug (discretely) the worst of the tangles from her hair.

"About… ten minutes ago?" Link guessed, shrugging.

"How long are you staying?" Malon asked.

"Long enough to eat, and pick up winter clothing," Link grinned.

_Winter clothing? This was the hottest month of summer._

They reached the front of the line, and Link received a bowl and spoon of his own. The couple found a nearby tree to eat under. The ex-kokiri wolfed down the thin gruel, his lips on the rim, _drinking _the thick, _hot_ liquid.

Malon realized she was staring, looked away… and her eyes were drawn back to the ex-demon's bobbing Adams apple. She could _see_ the steam coming off the bowl.

In the end, she realized it didn't really matter, and she was hungry. She took a scoop of gruel, blew on it, and swallowed the bland food. Link started picking at the gruel that had dried on his leather vambraces, brushing it off.

"So, where did you run off to, fast-like?" Malon asked, trying to restart the conversation.

"We went to see the Gorons," Link said, as if that were no mean feat.

Just _strolled _into the most heavily defended mountain-fortress in Hyrule…

"Difficult?" Malon prodded.

"Moblins and a dragon enslaved the gorons. We helped the chieftain find a magic hammer, and he killed the dragon," Link said, distracted by the stickiness on his hands.

"Oh, so nothing _too_ taxing," Malon grumbled.

"It was hot," a small voice complained, the faerie.

"Really," Malon said politely.

"Just kiss him already," the little woman rolled her eyes, turning her back pointedly on Malon.

"That's what you were waiting for?" Link asked, sounding startled.

Malon blushed. Getting unexpectedly kissed after a dramatic rescue by a childhood crush, now grown up was one thing. Working up the nerve to find the perfect moment was something else entirely. Apparently, being an ex-demon took all the guesswork out, because he stole a kiss, and her breath.

He grinned at her wickedly, and she _knew_ she looked like an idiot, "That's not fair," she complained, remembering to breathe. Damn it, she was a strong, independent woman who—

She forgot the rest of what she was thinking, except for the demon's lips.

"Excuse me," someone said politely, and Malon's eyes snapped open. One of the sheikah was standing expectantly nearby; a bundle of clothing secured under one arm.

"Do you want to tag along?" Link asked suddenly.

"What?" Malon asked, thrown.

"Do you want to come with us?" Link repeated.

"Where?" Malon asked.

"To Zora's Domain," Link explained. Malon glanced nervously at the sheikah, but nodded.

"I will look for additional clothing," the shadow-warrior said stiffly.

Malon had forgotten that Link didn't know how to ride… but it made her feel useful, important… not to mention, his breath still smelled of crushed leaves and rain, brushing the nape of her neck. She didn't really think about _what_ she was doing, or where she was going. This was enough.

Sheik spotted the danger, circling high in the sky. A desert hawk. None of her weapons had that range, she signaled Link, and pointed. He looked up, shading his eyes, then began stringing his gerudo short-bow grimly, despite the jostling horse.

Eight mounted warriors burst over the next hill, bearing down on the two hylian horses. Link drew back an arrow, and fired, missing his rapid target's throat, catching her low in the side instead. Several closed with their glaives leveled like lances. Sheik pulled ahead, of Link and Malon, maneuvering her horse between them nimbly. Her chain flicked out, wrapping around one woman's neck, at the same time Sheik looped her end of the chain around her saddle horn. The gerudo had a moment to register what had happened before the two horses passed each other at full gallop, jerking the woman out of the saddle so violently that her neck fractured. Link turned almost completely in the saddle, loosing a willow-cane arrow between a passing gerudo's shoulder blades at less than six paces.

The two sides wheeled about. The odds were still in the gerudo's favor. Malon quickly used the moment to string her own bow.

Link slid off the back of the horse, drawing another arrow, ready.

The gerudo Link had wounded in the side was slumped low on her horse, the reins held by a nearby comrade.

The gerudo had an archer among them as well… Link leveled his bow at her, ready. The two sides stood, appraising each other… but with a shout, the six survivors wheeled, and disappeared over the next hill… leaving two dead women crumpled in the grass, and a pair of confused looking horses nosing the bodies.

"They won't leave the horses behind. They're circling around," Malon said firmly. The cliffs to their right ran next to a river, limiting attack from that angle.

"They'll circle and hit us from the left, or try to hit us from behind," Malon decided.

Link had his head cocked, hood back. His blue faerie flew high above, and hovered… before darting back down, "From the left!" she shouted.

Malon turned Epona, and aimed, ready to let fly…

Four horses burst into view, but only _two_ riders. Link loosed his arrow, catching one rider in the breast, and the lung. An enemy shaft missed his throat. _The archer_. He drew another arrow, trying to locate the woman, but Malon had already sent an arrow through the archer's throat. By the time Link was able to visually locate the woman crouched on the hill, she'd nearly finished drowning on her own blood. Hooves thundered behind him, and Sheik's horse blew past. Link's fingers scrambled for another arrow, as two mounted gerudo crested the hill. They split wide, forcing the shadow-warrior to choose which to pursue. Malon's bow twanged behind Link, and that decision became very easy.

The only survivor was the woman Link had wounded earlier, who hadn't been able to take part in the ambush, lying near the dead archer, her eyes glassy with pain.

Link approached cautiously, and nudged her boot. She moaned, and Link realized she was younger than _he_ was, perhaps thirteen.

"They're considered a woman at twelve," Malon said quietly beside him.

"I recognize some of these gerudo… they were part of the band that captured you," Navi said.

"I know," Link said. These women had tried, but failed. They had not harmed the forest, either, nor even entered it. The one he wished dead was not among them. He crouched, and pulled the light fabric away from the wound, tearing the cloth somewhat.

"Wait, who was captured?" Malon demanded.

"We were heading towards your ranch, looking for you when the gerudo found us. Link was injured already by stalhounds…" Navi said, trailing off when the gerudo girl grabbed his wrist, and snarled weakly. Navi flew down, and hovered in front of the girl's face, scolding her in the desert tongue.

The wound wasn't life threatening for a kokiri, but this girl _was_ susceptible to infection.

Link looked at Navi, _Could we bring her to Saria? She is not yet of age…_ he asked in his native tongue. Sheik and Malon looked at him strangely.

Navi frowned, looking at the girl. _We could ask her_, Navi answered, also in the language of the forest.

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time. His mother had taught him a magic song, upon leaving the Kokiri as an adult. It was part of her new powers as a Sage.

He played the song, and the ragged grass around him seemed to grow greener and lusher as Malon watched, and the scent she associated with him became overpowering. For a moment, she thought she actually had been taken into the heart of a forest, but she blinked, and the vision faded. In its place, a forest demon stood, but made of grass and twigs, and only half as tall as it should have been. What magic was this?

The tiny facsimile cocked its head, and jabbered at Link, who replied in the same tongue. This was becoming stranger and stranger… the tiny construct walked over and looked at the injured gerudo, causing the girl to tremble. When the sticks next spoke, it was in the desert-tongue that Malon knew.

"My name is Saria. I am the Sage of Forest. Your injury will kill you," the voice said, oddly gentle for its content.

The girl continued to tremble.

"I can save your life, but there will be a cost," the bundle of sticks and grass warned.

"What is this cost?" the girl asked.

"You will no longer be gerudo. You will be a kokiri," the image said, then waited patiently for the girl to decide. In the end, she chose to not die. The hawk that had been circling overhead came to her when she whistled, weakly.

Link moved among the dead women, stripping them of weapons and equipment. He recovered his arrows. Malon examined the dead archer's short bow, which was similar to her own hylian shortbow in size, but greater in power… but she shook her head. Power meant little, next to accuracy, especially on horseback.

The horses were taken as well, their leads tied in sequence, so that they could be led. The rebels were painfully short of horse, after losing the grasslands to the gerudo, so short in fact, that they only utilized horse archers, unwilling to risk losing an animal in melee.

The shadow warrior did not approve of their detour.

"This will cost us several days travel," she said, annoyed.

"It will do no such thing," Link said confidently.

"Then you must know something about arithmetic and geography that I do not," Sheik said acidly.

"I trust my mother," he said simply, shrugging.

Stonily, Sheik returned her gaze to what lay ahead of them. Princess Zelda had warned her that the Hero of Time would severely test her patience, but would not succeed without her. The princess had been unclear though, not explaining if it meant she must follow him blindly, or keep him in check… at the moment, Sheik was hoping it was the latter.

They stopped for the night, and Sheik warded the camp with several layers of shadow-magic: one to disguise the scent of ten horses (and four people), a second to hide them from view, and a third to muffle any noise. The final, outer layer was the trickiest, but even that was no great feat for Sheik. She was _good_ with illusions. The fourth layer was a combination of a repulsion, as well as mild aversion. Any that encountered it would back away, sensing a trap, and congratulate themselves upon avoiding such danger, thanks to their _keen instincts_. It was geared towards Stalhounds, but would work equally well on any monster that encountered it. It sounded difficult, but at night, it hardly took any effort or energy on Sheik's part.

It was the reason the rebels were able to camp wherever they chose, as long as one of the Sheikah was with them, allowing for elaborate ambushes, and greater travel speed. Link was talking quietly with the skinny farm-girl, helping to pull the tangles out of her hair with his fingers. Sheik did not approve.

She had proven to be an excellent archer, but Sheik feared that the girl would distract him. Also, they were fighting a war of survival. There was no _time_ to waste with such petty nonsense. A small part of her freely admitted that she was jealous of the farm-girl. She did _not_ feel any attraction towards the former kokiri. No, she was jealous that the girl had someone to comb her hair, someone to laugh with, to confide in.

Sheik was singularly unapproachable. The rebels she fought beside were intimidated by _her_. They respected Lito, they would follow him through the far side of hell, and do it gladly. Sheik suspected it was because he was male, and fought with a straight sword, something the rebels understood.

Sheik's weapons were silence and stealth, using her tools to quietly murder the enemy. She was eighteen. Before her family had been massacred, she had been _happy_. Although the knowledge that she was training to eventually become a servant to Royalty was there, she still had time to play, as a child. Occasionally, Sheik missed that feeling, but there was no happiness now, only satisfaction as she returned the misery the enemy had given her. She was always a stranger at the window, out in the cold. Even in the midst of this war, she saw those around her snatch and cling to one another, love, camaraderie, friendship, trust… she saw all these things between others, but could never touch them.

And it hurt the shadow-warrior, bitterly. Sheikah bred true, whenever they intermixed with Hylians, similar to Gerudo, so although only four Sheikah had survived Ganon's purge, they would recover… eventually. The only exception were _Knights_, which weren't exactly Hylians to begin with. Oh, certainly some Hylians were knights, but they weren't _Knights_: an ancient race of warrior-heroes that had intermingled with the Hylians millennia ago, possessed of courage, and strength of arm, but they bred slowly, and they had never been a prolific race. Many had perished in the Great War, twenty years ago, when the land tore itself apart, attempting to seize the power of the Golden Land, tribe against tribe, until the Gods had sealed the power from them, and the Hylian King had forged what many had believed was a lasting peace. Fools.

Link drifted off to sleep, with Malon curled against him. Since leaving the forest, he felt… complete. The empty ache in his chest had eased, and he could breathe. Malon mumbled, and rolled, pillowing her head on his chest.

"No, keep your back straight, don't hunch over," Malon said, riding next to Link. He was sitting uncomfortably on one of the Gerudo horses. At least his boots were in the _stirrups _this time.

The edge of the forest came into view, and Link's heart fluttered. He had been gone three weeks. What he was seeing was… impossible. Rippling out from the Lost Woods, a fifty meter thick ribbon of saplings had erupted; each infant tree was already fifteen feet tall, obscuring the tree stumps.

"Impossible…" Sheik whispered, stunned. The gerudo girl was hunched over, trembling with fever, and did not see the miracle before her eyes.

"The Forest cannot be tamed… not while her children protect her," Link said happily.

He dismounted from the captured horse, forgetting to use the stirrups again, just sliding off and landing on the balls of his feet. He tied the lead to a nearby stump, outside the rejuvenated area. "Leave the horses, we'll proceed on foot," Link said.

"I will guard the horses," Sheik said bluntly.

Link shrugged, and helped the gerudo dismount. Her eyes were feverish, and she didn't seem to know where she was, or even what she was doing, so he picked her up, and carried her like the child she was. "Malon, hold onto my belt, and don't let go," he said sharply.

Malon tagged close at his side. She'd never entered the forest before…

Dim light filtered through the trees, a perpetual twilight. These trunks had seen millennia… gnarled and old…

A sharp whistle broke the air, and Link whistled back.

Two small figures dropped from the trees. They looked like children, but their skin was as black as ash. Their clothes were made of fallen leaves, but what struck Malon most, were their glowing red eyes and sharp teeth.

They talked with Link for a few seconds, before gesturing for him to follow.

"They don't look like kokiri," Malon whispered.

"They're not. Karr and Seun are skull kids," Link said easily. One of the creatures glanced over its tiny shoulder at her, and winked suggestively.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Malon whispered.

"To the Forest Sage," Link said, as if that told her everything she needed to know.

But their guides led them the forest, taking strange short-cuts, and suddenly changing directions at the last moment. It seemed like they'd doubled back on themselves at least twice, and gone in a circle at least once. Malon tripped on a root, but kept her deathgrip on her demon's belt, "Why are we walking in circles?" she demanded, annoyed.

One of the skull kids seemed amused by the question, giggling to its friend.

_Eventually _they emerged into a clearing of sorts. No trees grew here, only grass, but a massive tree stood at the center, shading the entire "clearing," although its branches were bare, and clearly dead. The tree was _massive_. Scattered about the clearing were lean-tos, and hovels, made from twigs, vines, and leaves. The clearing was a riot of activity. Skull kids scampered around carrying sticks and bundles between them, with a… curious air of industry, like children building stick forts.

"That's a wolf," Malon said, her eyes wide.

"No, it's a _wolfos_, which are larger and smarter than _wolves_," Link corrected her. A kokiri was clinging to the animal's back, body relaxed, and was gesturing to a skull kid in passing.

The _wolfos_ looked like a wolf, but half again as large… more like a small pony. "I don't see any reins or bridal… do you pull on the ears, or something?" Malon asked.

"_Nooo…_" Link said quickly, "not if you like having both hands."

The wolf's ears pricked up, and it trotted towards the edge of the clearing, and the kokiri waved good bye.

There were so many forest-demons… More than she thought existed, anyway. She assumed two dozen, maybe… but this… some were making arrows, others spears, more were carrying sheets of bark…

"What is all this?" Malon asked.

"We prepare for war, horse-child," an amused voice said. Malon spun, and saw a female kokiri walking towards them, wearing a single strap dress/tunic of woven fibers, that only fell to mid thigh, a pink faerie sitting on her bare shoulder. She looked no different than the others, but this demon had an almost physical presence about her.

"Where's Mido?" Link asked.

"Your father's training a band of youngsters," the girl said, waving a hand dismissively.

_Father?_

"I assume this is the girl?" the kokiri asked.

Link knelt, so that the kokiri could look at the dying gerudo.

The kokiri's face was hidden beneath her glaring mask.

"I'm… not sure… she might be too old," the kokiri said, worried.

The pink faerie on her shoulder landed upon the gerudo's belly, cocking her head at the bandage.

She whistled sharply, and four kokiri came over promptly. The kokiri girl tersely gave them instructions of some kind, and the demons nodded, returning with a stretcher, made from two stout poles and a cloth-like weave suspended between them. Link gently placed the gerudo on the stretcher, and the kokiri quickly departed the clearing.

"So you are the girl my son encountered in the fields seven years ago?" the kokiri girl asked. Even with her face hidden, Malon could feel the appraising eyes.

"I… I am," Malon said. _Son?_

The girl raised her mask, revealing her peculiar white-less blue eyes. Her tattoos made her face seem… fierce, wild.

"My name is Saria. I am the Forest Sage… and the first of the Great Deku Tree's children," Link's mother said, holding out her small hand. Malon cautiously shook the girl's hand, "I'm Malon."

"I have weapons, on the horses," Link offered.

"Yes, we saw. They should be arriving… now," Saria said, glancing off to the left. A kokiri was standing atop a horse with his arms crossed, which nervously edged into the clearing. Behind him, Sheik sat painfully straight in her saddle, clearly irritated.

"My apologies, Hero. The kokiri were most… insistent," Sheik said grimly.

"My son said you are heading towards Zora's domain. We will watch the horses for you," Saria offered.

"And we will be walking?" Sheik asked sharply.

"In a manner of speaking," the Forest Sage giggled.

Malon didn't like leaving Epona with… well, demons, but Link promised they'd be safe with his people… which is why they were carrying all of their gear through a dark forest, following the Forest Sage. They came to a wide, flat stone, with a puddle of water, and the kokiri stopped.

"This is one of the Wyldeways. Its twin is near Zora's domain," Saria said.

"Why didn't you tell me seven years ago?" Link grumbled.

"Without the Deku tree, the path is useless, but I can power it for you," the Sage said calmly. It still looked like a puddle.

"Thank you," Link said softly. He whispered more, in his own tongue, and hugged his mother.

Then the Sage stepped back, and spoke harshly, green light flowed from her fingers, stirring the water into a froth, before stilling again… but now it didn't look like a puddle… it looked _deep_. Link double checked that his equipment was secured, then hopped into the puddle… plunging out of sight.

Sheik went next, and then it was Malon's turn. She hesitated at the edge.

"Hurry," the Sage said, her voice strained. Malon bit her lip, and jumped into the puddle…

She was surrounded by a maelstrom of water, beating against her face and head, trying to drag her away. She felt like she would drown, but her lungs weren't even burning yet…

Then she popped out of the water, and gasped. Sheik poured water from her tanto sheathe, looking as thrilled as a wet cat.

Link grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the water. When Malon looked back, there was only a stone, with a puddle of water…

She shivered, and it wasn't just from nerves. She could see her breath.

"We're near the river that flows from Zora's domain… or at least, what's left of it," Link explained. He was shivering too, and pulled a heavy gold ring off his thumb, slipping it into a pouch on his belt.

"Let's move," he chattered. The miserable trio moved away from the source of winter, and eventually, out of the canyon, onto the grasslands. Here the sun shown, and Malon began to feel as if she wasn't an icicle. Link pulled off his gloves and vambraces, arranging them so that the sun could dry them off. He unwrapped his bundle of clothes, propping them on the tall grass to dry. His faerie ran down his arm, and jumped from his hand, landing on one of the tunics. She flicked her translucent wings, drying them in the sun. He stripped down to his tan leggings, and pulled out his sword, "I will be standing over there, looking in _that_ direction," Link said calmly, glancing meaningfully at Malon and Sheik.

"You may look in whichever direction you wish," Sheik said, and a sheet of shadow rose six feet in the air, screening the women from view.

Sheik let her weapons rig fall, and tugged at her mask. Malon undressed as well, painfully aware of how bony she was. She was curious though, as to what Sheik looked like. The Sheikah left her mask on the grass, and slipped out of her black tunic and leggings, carefully arranging her reinforced vambraces on the grass, her back still to Malon. She wore a cloth binder, and loin wrap. Her skin was pale, but still darker than her snowy hair.

Sheik was _muscle_, Malon saw. Wiry, hard muscle. The demon's body was a weapon, Malon decided, and didn't think the sheikah would turn around soon, as she left her leather pants to dry, next to her blouse and leather vest.

The trap was sprung. The moblins and bokoblins (small, goblin-ish creatures) looked up, stunned, as arrows flashed from the grass downwind of them. The hidden archers stood, so as to have a better firing stance, revealing their position, but increasing their accuracy and rate of fire. The enemy had a few archers among them, but those had been the first targets to fall, leaving only the monsters with melee weapons.

The moblins squealed in rage, and charged. Lito, still crouched, watched them coolly, drawing closer… he whistled sharply, and the archers fell back in good order, considering the terrain. Then the infantry rose into a crouch, and raised the spears that had lain flat in the grass, expertly couching the buttes. The moblins were large, heavy fighters, able to move with great speed, but they were slow to accelerate or change directions… much like hunting wild boar, and the spears had cross braces two feet down their length for exactly that reason. The moblins hit the spears without realizing it, trying to force their way towards their attackers… but the cross brace stopped them. Lito stepped forward, his straight blade flickered, and two of the enemy that had escaped the spears tumbled, bereft of their heads.

Rebels with swords, axes, shields, clubs... they advanced, protecting their spear wielding brethren from retaliation.

Lito grinned savagely behind his mask, clipping an enemy's carotid, and kicked the dying bokoblin into the path of a moblin that trampled the smaller monster to death in its haste to kill the enemy. Lito slapped a moblin's sword aside with his empty hand, surprising the monster with his unnatural strength, and delicately drew a smile across its throat. Lito stepped close to the dying creature, and twirled it into the path of a moblin's spear, tangling up the moblin long enough for an archer to subdue it.

In the aftermath, Lito walked among his fighters. A gray haired spearman's weapon had snapped, allowing his opponent to close, and kill both him, and the teenager who had attempted to defend his battle-partner, with a wooden shield and axe. The archers ultimately slew the moblin…

Everyday they killed the enemy… but there were always losses. Always…

And the enemy seemed more numerous than before.

This raiding band had been headed towards an isolated village, to _pacify _it. Namely rape, murder, and torch the settlement. Few of the other fighters had bruises, scrapes, one lucky bastard had a cracked skull, and the blow that should have killed him was mostly turned aside by his helmet.

Shadow magic couldn't heal. It could deceive, manipulate, poison, kill… but never mend. They stripped the corpses of equipment, and continued on towards the village that had been Ganon's target. His people already had weapons… but the villagers didn't… not yet.

Link checked his clothes. They were mostly dry. He had doffed his leggings after Sheik raised the curtain. As a kokiri, he wasn't shy, but Malon was. He returned his eyes to the grasslands, watching for any hawks, and listening for thunder… or any movement among the grasses that didn't follow the wind. He held the master sword against his leg, hidden by the grass, so that it wouldn't reflect the sunlight.

Navi flitted to his shoulder, her thin wings finally dry, no longer waterlogged and useless. She sat down on his shoulder, crossing her legs, chin on her fist.

She wasn't happy.

Link studiously watched the horizon for threats.

"Was it_ wise_ to bring Malon with us?" Navi asked suddenly.

"I don't carry that particular Triforce," Link said, smirking.

"This is not a joke. We have no idea what we will find within Zora's domain," Navi hissed.

"That's the fun of it," Link teased her.

"And if she dies?" Navi asked sharply, managing to sober her ward.

"I won't let that happen," Link said coldly.

"That's what I am afraid of…" Navi sighed, kneading her temples.

Sheik pulled her dry, warm uniform back on, still ignoring the girl behind her. She could hear the girl dressing hastily. She didn't turn until her mask was back in place. By then, the girl had regained her pants and blouse.

"We are finished," Sheik called.

"Oh, alright," Link replied. Sheik let the illusion fade, as the Hero finished lacing up his leggings.

The group advanced back up the canyon. The riverbed was empty, except for cold mud. Link shivered, despite wearing three heavy woolen tunics over his clothes, and additional leggings. He'd stuffed grass into his boots and pants as well, which amused Malon. He could see his breath in the chill air, but they still hadn't reached the waterfall that shielded the entrance to the domain of the Zora. If memory served, it would be around this next bend…

Link hesitated, not quite sure of what he saw. It was a wall of…

"Ice…" Sheik noted.

The stone ramp that led to the entrance was still intact, Link found, though treacherous with a very thin film of ice. He and Malon scrambled and cursed, carefully clawing their way up, while Sheik walked past, as if she were walking across a level floor.

By the time the pair gained the top of the ramp, they found Sheik regarding the frozen water fall, standing on the royal seal. Somehow, he didn't think playing the Royal Melody would turn aside the flow of water.

"I could try to… break the ice," Sheik offered.

"How?" Link asked, looking at her light-weight weaponry.

"With magic," she said coolly.

Link shrugged, curious. He hadn't seen Sheik use her magic destructively before.

The sheikah spun her hands together, fingers straining. Shadow congealed between her hands, wriggling disturbingly.

She pulled her hands apart, trembling, and the ball of darkness swelled, until it was the same size as her head. She pulled her hands apart farther, and groaned. Then the ball _flickered _from between her hands, and hit the wall of ice. The sheikah sagged to her knees, panting, while Link and Malon dove for cover, shards of ice hissing through the air. Despite the force of the impact, the only sound was of ice shards breaking on the frozen pool below. Link looked up cautiously, and Malon elbowed him off. He'd smashed her face against the frosty ramp when he shielded her. He grunted, pulling at several shards of ice, embedded in his gauntlet. They hadn't penetrated, but a few had peppered his elbow, piercing the cloth, and drawing blood. They were too small to be dangerous though, merely an annoyance…

"A little warning next time?" Link said. More ice hung in his clothing, stymied by the chainmail shirt beneath.

"It wasn't… supposed… to do that," Sheik panted. The right side of her mask looked wet, and she had blood in her hair… but it didn't seem serious.

"Well, what _was_ it going to do?" Navi asked from Link's hood.

"Crumble," the sheikah said, shakily climbing to her feet. Well, the ice hadn't just crumbled… Link thought darkly. A jagged whole had opened up, revealing part of the archway. Navi flew over to the ice, and stared at it intently… before darting back into Link's hood, out of the cold.

"The ice itself is cursed," the faerie told them.

"Heroes first," Link chuckled, jumping for the hole. It wasn't _far_, but the ramp was too slippery for a good jump. He landed, his boots slipping a little on the hoarfrost inside. Link drew the master sword, and stabbed it into ice. He felt a flicker of pleasure from the blade, as it disintegrated pieces of the curse touching it… but that simply melted the ice, depriving him of the handhold he wanted. He sighed, and sheathed the blade, jamming his fingers into the slippery slot, "Alright, who's next?" he asked. Sheik gestured Malon forward. The girl crouched, and jumped. Her feet slipped out from under her, and she started to fall. Sheik grabbed Malon's hood, halting the girl, as if the young warrior _wasn't_ standing on a treacherously slippery surface, but rather coarse sandstone. Sheik's arms bulged, and she levered the choking girl back up onto the ledge with her.

"Th-thanks," Malon gagged, sucking in air. Link's heart still hadn't returned to a normal rhythm. Malon jumped again, crashing into Link, whose free arm snaked around her, halting her jump, releasing his hand hold. Sheik lightly leapt into the entrance.

Link led the way deeper into the frozen place. There was no sign of the Zora. No guards, no bodies… nothing. Below the path, lay one of the primary pools of the domain, also frozen solid. As they mounted the steps to the throne room, they found the Zora… what was left of them.

Dozens of the fish-men had been cut down on the stairs, clearly a holding action of some kind. Most wore the armor and curious helms of Royal Guards, their bluish blood and wounds frozen in perfect detail, beneath a thin film of ice.

Sheik looked at the slaughter, her violet eyes missing nothing. She had seen many scenes such as this in her life. She reached out, feeling the deaths with her magic.

The Zora had not given their lives in panic. There was a purpose to this. She could not discern what it was, but the Zora had died with a goal in mind of some kind.

Curious.

Link climbed the steps, avoiding the fallen bodies. Dreading what he would find at the top. The Zora King was not sitting on his throne. Instead, he stood on the audience dais, a spear raised, as if to stab into a foe before him, his swollen lips bared in hatred. No wound marked him. He had merely been frozen. Link was impressed that the corpulent monarch's skinny legs had been strong enough to hold his bulk upright, let alone _attack_. The answer lay behind the monarch. A female zora was sprawled in the shallow pool, slumped against the throne. No wounds marked her either, and a coral boomerang lay in the pool, a few feet from her open hand.

"The king is not dead," Sheik said, surprised, her hand resting on the frozen monarch's stomach.

_The Ice itself is cursed…_

And the master sword had melted the ice…

Link looked at the blade in his hand thoughtfully. Clearly, he wasn't going to _stab_ the king… Link laid the flat of the blade against the ice that covered the king.

"What are you doing?" Navi asked.

"Something _wise_, I hope," Link said.

Sheik stood back and watched. She could hear the dissonance, the squeal of magic straining against magic. With a ping that transferred over into the mundane, the spell locking the monarch in ice broke… and his spear completed the stab it had began, the point dancing off the icy floor, and the monarch fell on his face.

Link watched the zora carefully, "Are you well?" he asked.

The king moaned, a sound that made Malon's sinuses ache.

"Ruto…" he said, trying to rise, "Kill me, monster, I will not _beg_," he wheezed.

"My lord, we come at the behest of Princess Zelda," Link said smoothly.

"The... the princess. How could she have known—?"

"My lord, it has been two months since we lost contact with you," Link said gently.

"Two months?" the monarch had managed to roll onto his side, his eyes focusing on Link.

"But, where has this ice come from? A moment ago…" he was clearly disoriented. To him, a minute ago, he had jumped to attack his foe, and had apparently blinked.

"What happened?" Sheik asked.

"I…" the corpulent fish-man's lips smacked as he searched his memory.

"The sentries… yes, the sentries sent word of an intruder, before they fell silent. I sent my guards to the entrance… but I heard fighting on the stairs. I told my people to go, to use the tunnel that leads to the sea..." the king's eyes closed.

"I cannot swim as I used too… but Ruto would not leave," he said bitterly.

"Who did this?" Malon asked.

"I thought it would be Ganon… but instead, it was a Gerudo Witch of Ice," the fish man said with a depreciating rasp. Link pressed the master sword down into the frozen pool. It was only twelve inches deep. He traced around the frozen princess's trapped legs and waist, before he pressed the blade against her forehead.

Unlike her father, when the spell broke, there were no wild theatrics… because she was still unconscious, as she had been when she was frozen. Link had almost finished melting the water over her legs when she woke up.

_Then _the theatrics started.

"Ah!" Link yelped, as the princess raked the sharp fins on her arms at him, cutting through the winter clothing, stopped by the chainmail.

She tried to pull him closer, where she could get at his throat, she was still trapped at the waist, and Link grabbed her wrists. She'd caught him by surprise… but he was stronger than she was, especially considering she'd been a magic icicle for the last two months.

"Princess, stop!" Link hissed, as she dug her nails into the backs of his leather gloves. Her eyes were wild, terrified.

"Look at me!" Link roared in her face, startling her.

"You have seen my tattoo before, seven years ago!" he snarled, and the princess seemed to focus on the features of her target.

"We're here to _help_ you, you stupid girl," Navi said, stepping out of Link's hood.

"You…" Ruto whispered, looking at Navi, then at Link. "You cannot be Link," she protested.

"If I let go, are you going to claw my face off?" Link asked grimly.

He felt her arms go limp, and let go.

"Now, I _was_ getting you out of the ice," he said, annoyed, picking up the master sword, and went back to work.

"Father?" Ruto called.

"I am here, Ruto."

"What happened?"

"I am unsure… but two months have passed since we were attacked…" the king said heavily.

"That should do it," Link said, Ruto flexed her legs against the ice, and wriggled free. She steadied herself on Link's arm, and Malon bristled. The princess limped over to her father, and crouched beside him, shivering in the cold.

"Ruto… find our people…" the king whispered.

"I'm not leaving you here," Ruto snarled.

"I can't walk. Will you _carry_ me?" the king asked, gently pointing out the obvious impossibility of that action.

"You'll freeze," Ruto said.

The giant fish-man chuckled.

"Go, free our people. I'll still be here… waiting," the king grimaced.

In the end, Link had to carry her… and he felt like a monster doing it.

"No! Take me back!" Ruto railed, but she didn't try to kill him. They were walking down a partially frozen tunnel, that would eventually lead to the massive chamber that held Jabu-Jabu. A tunnel he had walked before, looking for her, seven years ago.

What they found there troubled Link.

The chamber was frozen… but there was no sign of the massive whale-fish thing.

There weren't any zora either. Link looked at Sheik, "Is anyone dead here?" he asked.

Sheik knelt, placing the palm of her hand to the ice… eventually shaking her head.

"King Zora said something about the sea? What tunnel?" Link asked the princess.

"The tunnel Lord Jabu-Jabu used, to swim here, from the sea, centuries ago," Ruto said lifelessly.

"Where _exactly _does it come out in the sea?" Navi asked.

"In Hylia Bay…" Ruto said.

"One last question, and its important," Link said, Ruto looked at him expectantly.

"Where is the water temple?"

"How do you know—?"

"I'll explain on the way. Where is it?" Link asked.

"A few miles out to sea…" Ruto said, curious.

Lito stopped in front of the two "prisoners." He tossed a pair of swords in front of the women, and gestured, using a tendril of magic to release their bonds. He was unarmed, without any weapons at all. The older woman picked up a sword, and cautiously stood, but she did not attack. The younger one immediately grabbed the sword and lunged at him. Before the sword even came close, she fell, screaming, blood dripping from her eyes.

"You swore a binding oath of loyalty," Lito said coldly, examining his fingernails, since the tips of his hands ware bare for dexterity.

"What you done?" the older woman asked, staring at the screaming woman.

"She attempted to wound me, so her oath is… punishing her. If she ever _harmed_ me, then she would be dead," Lito said coolly.

"You are demon," the woman realized.

"Of course," Lito agreed, "And you are _mine_," he hissed.

The woman who stood stared at him, her gold eyes finding only truth within his own violet gaze. She glanced at the woman in the dirt, who had stopped screaming, but was moaning softly.

She bowed her head, "What have me do… master?"

Lito smiled.

_Progress._

For the second time today, Navi was drying off her wings. Saria cocked her head, at the zora princess… in the middle of a forest. "I had not expected you to contact me for at least another day," the Forest Sage admitted.

"We need the horses, to travel to Hylia Bay, unless you have another Wyldeway tucked around somewhere," Link said.

"Just the one to Death Mountain," Saria chuckled.

"You're serious," Link said.

"But it's a cave, not a puddle," Saria shrugged.

Sheik shook her head. She was growing tired of Link's compulsive conscription of followers to slow down their mission. If Sheik had to choose between the two tagalongs, she would still pick the princess, simply because at least she had useful knowledge of their objective.

It did not surprise Sheik that the zora princess had never ridden a horse… considering she had flippers instead of feet. Well, they _were_ feet, but the toes were so widely spaced they were effectively flippers, despite being capable of supporting her weight on land. They had ten horses… but they only took three… and naturally, _Sheik_ was the one the princess wanted to ride with, for reasons known only to her. Sheik suspected Malon was responsible somehow, sending another glower at the red-haired wench.

When they reached the great river, Ruto slipped from Sheik's horse, and swam alongside the horses, as they followed the river to the sea.

They reached the coast in less than two days, pushing the horses hard. Link's riding skills increased out of harsh necessity… and the gerudo horse was well trained, the hero admitted. Link had never seen an ocean before. Calling it a lake, but larger… didn't do it justice… a small fishing village, Bonooru, crouched on the coast to the west, perhaps three miles distant. Fishing boats had begun to shove off in the early morning, their simple white sails catching the morning light, turning the color of blood. There were a few meager fields of grain near the village, but most of their livelihood came from the sea.

Link stared out to sea… and realized he had no idea how to _get_ to the temple. He couldn't breath underwater. He didn't realize Ruto was standing near him as well.

"Link…" she said awkwardly.

"Hmm?" he asked, only half listening.

"I need you to break off our betrothal," Ruto blurted.

"That's— wait, what?" Link asked, turning.

Sheik saw Malon's head snap up, locking in on the fish princess like a diving hawk.

"Yes, what was that?" Malon asked.

Ruto shied away slightly from the hylian, "It seemed a good idea at the time," she said defensively, to both Link and Malon.

"What changed?" Link asked, curious.

"Well, Prince Rulias turned out to be… well, he's a good man," Ruto said, blushing.

"This is the prince you claimed was snotty and stuck up," Link said flatly.

"He _was_…" Ruto said miserably.

Malon looked between the two, curious, and a tad hostile.

"Fine, what do you need from me?" Link asked.

"You need to declare your intent to my father, and there's a short ceremony or something, nothing serious," Ruto assured him.

"No kissing?" Link asked suspiciously.

"None," Ruto said.

"How does this help us reach the water temple?" Sheik asked.

"I… do have an idea, for that, if I can find him…" Ruto said cautiously.

Link suspected he would not enjoy this plan.

He was right.

Ruto waded into the sea, and dove. As she kicked away from the beach, she began to feel better. Of course, she was in more danger _now_, but she was a zora, and not without her own defenses. Below her, amid the gently swaying kelp fields, she saw the bulbs of aqua baba, lying in wait for fish foolish enough to swim close enough…

As the water darkened, Ruto closed her eyes, and focused on the receptors spread along her cheeks, which let her detect electrical currents in the water… such as from heartbeats.

Specifically, she was searching for one, massive heart…

But she could sense the disturbance of other creatures approaching her. They were larger than her, but she couldn't determine what they were. She twirled up and to the side, avoiding one creature, and in the murky, rippling twilight, she saw its teeth, and pointed head, flanked by three stabilizing fins, followed by a split tail.

_Gyorg_. They were essentially fish, but capable of reaching sizes larger than some Hylian fishing vessels. Most of those were ancient though, and rarely left the deeps.

The pups tended to hunt in packs, to survive, and rarely exceeded four meters in length, before splitting off as solo hunters. They were always hungry.

Ruto calmed herself as she evaded a second predator. They could sense electrical disturbances, just as she could, and sense blood in the water.

As the next Gyorg swam at her from below, she began to evade, expecting that it would have anticipated that, and adjusted, so that the Gyorg missed her… and she stabbed her fingers into the creature's gills, securing handholds on the bucking creature… and hurting it at the same time.

Her body didn't just absorb and store electricity, she could produce it as well… but the process was slow, and she hadn't eaten well for the last two days, burning most of her body's reserves to keep pace with the horses… otherwise she would have fried the pup.

So instead, she ripped out the delicate gills, and pushed away from the stricken, now drowning, creature. Instantly, its pack-mates turned, and attacked. They were always hungry… the wounded Gyorg didn't die quietly though, latching onto the tail of the brother that had bitted off a fin… Ruto swam deeper, leaving the predators to their own devices.

Ahead of her, she sensed a massive presence… and altered course.

"So… you were married?" Malon asked, glancing at Link.

"Engaged," Link corrected.

He didn't seem too serious about it; this made Malon feel better, but also threw her a little. Did it mean he hadn't been serious about the princess, or about engagement in general?

"How did that happen?" Malon probed.

"She tricked me," Link chuckled.

Malon nodded, listening.

"Her father was trying to marry her off, and she didn't like the prince, so she tricked me into accepting her betrothal. It was a technicality to let her get out of marriage," Link shrugged.

"Oh."

Link smirked at her, his amethyst eyes seeing too damned much. She looked away first.

Sheik surged to her feet, eyeing the surf, "Something comes," she hissed.

The waves had taken on a more violent quality, and then a massive head erupted from the waves… a head Link knew far better than he'd like.

"So… this is the guardian of the Zora?" Sheik said unimpressed.

"We all have off days," Link said. The smell of its innards was already coming back to him… something he wished he could forget…

Ruto advanced out of the surf like a… well, a princess of the sea.

"Shall we go?" she asked.

The massive whale opened its jaws, still a spear's throw from the beach, unable to come closer without beaching. Malon stared at the large, _mouth_.

The plan had made sense… from a slanted view. The sheikah was already out to her waist, until she had to swim, with a strange, spider-like stroke.

"I… I can't…" Malon said, her eyes wide. Eaten.

"Someone should stay with the horses," Link said gently.

"They… yes," Malon swallowed, "No!" she shook her head sharply. What the hell was wrong with her? The boy standing a few feet away stared at the exchange in disbelief. The strangers had offered money for him to care for their horses… but this…

"Malon, you don't need to come," Link said, offering her an out…

She slapped the horses' reins in the fisherboy's hands, and placed a red rupee in his hand. He would get the rest when they returned.

She gasped at the sting of salt water in her eyes, nothing like river water, swimming out to the waiting jaws. A wave splashed over her, blinding her momentarily. She was close she knew, her hands blindly reaching for… no, she didn't think about it. Someone grabbed her flailing hands, and hauled her out of the water.

Malon wiped the water from her eyes, ignoring how pliant the floor of the boat was. Yes, it was a big, smelly fishing boat.

Frenzied splashing made her open her eyes. Link had that determined look on his face, as he tried to swim to the fish.

He didn't know how, but it was just as obvious he wasn't going to let that stop him… just drown him.

"The fool," Sheik sighed, and her chain hissed through the air, winding around one wrist. Link's hand clenched the lifeline, and Sheik reeled him in, hand over hand.

"Almost… made it," he grinned, looking pleased with himself.

Then the jaws closed, with a meaty finality, plunging the three into darkness… until a blue light illuminated the hot, fetid hell. Malon wished she couldn't see.

Link squeezed her hand encouragingly… but it didn't matter. She was terrified, that if she let him out of her sight, he wouldn't come back… and she was terrified of this whole situation, almost to the point of losing her bladder. Link thought she was brave… but Malon didn't feel anything like that. She couldn't stop trembling. They were going to drown. Malon hoped she didn't vomit. Not in front of the Sheikah, or _Link_.

Ruto clung to Lord Jabu-Jabu's gilded headdress of gold, inset with a massive sapphire. Several Gyorg approached, but the lord of the sea ignored them, and they fled before his majesty. The water continued to darken, and Ruto could feel the pressure of the ocean above, pressing down on her. The water began to chill, and still the mighty guardian swam on. Five miles from shore, and half a mile beneath the waves, their destination lay…

Lost in the darkness, a proud structure of stone and metal crouched warily, a refuge against the darkness for the people of the sea. It was massive, easily as large as the entire domain… it had once been their only city… two massive stone statues of ancient Zora kings stood sentry, stoic and fierce in their timeless duty.

Lord Jabu-Jabu slowly swam forward, his massive body passing through the submerged entrance, and rose… Ruto felt her body break the surface of the water, into the antechamber of the Temple. A pocket of air was trapped within the space…

Jabu-Jabu rumbled, wishing her well, and warning her that he sensed danger within the temple. His people had entered… but none had answered his cries.

He opened his jaws, and three figures stumbled onto the stone pier, guided by a bobbing blue light. Ruto slipped from Jabu-Jabu, propelling herself to the pier with two strong kicks, and hoisted herself out of the water.

The stone was cold beneath her feet. The steamworks should have left it warm…

Steel rang, as Link drew his sword, throwing his hood back, glaring into the darkness, as if an enemy hid in every shadow. The enemy had been here… the temple was desecrated.

Malon's bow wasn't strung, instead, she drew a long dagger from her belt.

Ruto manipulated several levers, which opened a thick door to a small room, with another door, and more levers. She called it an _airlock_. A silly name for a room, Malon thought.

She closed the door they had entered through, before opening the other door.

"So… what was the plan?" Malon asked nervously, as something skittered in the ducts overhead.

"Beyond getting here?" Link asked tightly.

"Find the medallion, cleanse the temple, find the Zora," Sheik said calmly.

"In that order?" Ruto challenged.

"Correct," Sheik said.

Link held up his hand, halting the group behind him. Navi peeked out of his collar. Something was wrong. Sheik could feel it as well now.

"There… there is another here," she whispered, probing the darkness with her magic.

"One like… me?" Sheik said, confused. It wasn't a sheikah though.

Then one of the pipes burst overhead. Sea water rushed out,

"Breach!" Ruto said, as if it weren't obvious.

"What do we do?" Link demanded.

"We have to find the shutoff valve," Ruto said quickly.

"Sheik, Malon," Link said, point to the left, "Ruto, with me." The two parties hastily followed the pipe in both directions, to find an emergency valve, whatever that was.

The shadow watched the enemy scurry to repair the sabotage. The master had commanded it wait here, believing the enemy would come, to undo the curse the master had created. The master had promised to aid the shadow in its quest, in exchange for its services. The presence of the traitor surprised the shadow. Not fear, just curiosity, to find one that had cast aside its heritage, intentionally limiting itself. Inexplicable.

"Harder!" Ruto grunted. Link had placed a gold ring on his thumb, a strange thing to pause for, and both were straining against a metal lever, which was stiff, but not jammed. Link grunted, and she could feel the muscles of his arms trembling against her own. She felt the lever reluctantly begin to edge up.

Malon couldn't see her own hand in front of her face, but it didn't seem to slow the sheikah down, who was reluctantly pulling her along by her wrist. They came to a stone wall, which the pipe disappeared into. Sheik turned around, "Dead end," she explained, to the blind girl beside her. She shook her head, Link should have kept the girl with him, but he seemed afraid to let anyone go anywhere by themselves.

Sheik was of the shadows, darkness held no secrets from her eyes.

Navi inspected the breached piping… "This metal was weakened magically," she said.

"Ruto, where would the medallion be kept?" Link asked. He didn't think it would still be there, but it was a place to look.

"The Mausoleum."

Ruto led them through the dark, echoing, noisy corridors.

"What does all of this do?" Malon asked, gesturing at the pipes with her dagger.

"We don't know for sure," Ruto said, shrugging, "But we have maintained the machinery since the ancients built this temple. Our best guess, is it keeps the sea from flooding the temple,"

They came to a large room of vaulted ceilings, and walkways. Water filled the room beneath the walkways. Navi's glow did not penetrate that dark surface, and the group kept to the center of the walkways, leery of the water.

It was the perfect place for an ambush. They wove through the abandoned city's foot paths, trying to watch the water, and the shadowy doorways to the dwellings equally. Then something grabbed Link's ankle, and yanked him into the water. He'd just finished exhaling.

"Link!" Navi shouted. Ruto dove from the walkway, and sensed her friend's heartbeat. A sword glowed blue, far below her, something screamed in the water. Ruto propelled herself deeper, kicking frantically. Link was slashing and stabbing at something. Ruto grabbed his hood, and started kicking for the surface. His equipment was heavy, weighing him down, but she broke the surface, grabbed the edge of the walkway, and struggled to pull Link up. Malon and Sheik grabbed the shoulders of the man's tunic, and dragged him out of the water, ripping the sturdy fabric slightly. He choked and hacked, water spilling from his mouth and nose. Sheik beat him on the back with her fist, helping to work the water out. Ruto crouched nearby, her fins flared angrily, watching the water. She should have seen the attack coming, was she a Zora or not? But even during the attack, in the water, she had only sensed Link's heartbeat.

From the water, a large eye watched them, before the monster undulated away, to try again.

"I hate… water," Link choked.

"Thank you," Malon said, hugging the zora princess. Her skin was slippery, cool.

Ruto blinked, "He would do the same for me," she said, disoriented by how quickly the hylian had gone from disliking her to embracing her.

"The day I have to rescue a zora from _drowning_ will be a sad day indeed," Link chuckled painfully.

"Stranger things have happened," Sheik shrugged. She had caught a brief glimpse of what had attacked Link, something almost transparent… like water… but thicker.

"What was it?" Ruto asked Link.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Link said, leaning against the wall of a dwelling, his knees tucked to his chest, as far from the water as possible.

"It had no heartbeat, but I never saw it," Ruto said.

"It attacks from the water. Is there some way to drain the temple?" Sheik asked.

"I don't—" Ruto frowned, the tail-like appendage on the back of her head moving slowly, thoughtfully.

"It's never been done before… but yes. There may be a way…" Ruto said, intrigued. If the monster relied on the water to attack, then draining it… she grinned.

"What do we need to do?" Link asked intently.

"Well… we would merely need to increase the water being pumped out of the temple. It won't get rid of _all _the water, but most of it will be drained…" Ruto said.

"Good enough," Navi said.

There were three pumping stations. Ruto described the levers, and their locations. One of the rooms was at the bottom of the temple, so Ruto would deal with that one.

The other two were at opposite ends of the temple… so they split up… but Sheik insisted Link take Malon with him, "I can see in the darkness, she cannot. She would be more use where she can see," the sheikah explained, and Link nodded.

He didn't like sending Sheik alone… but he realized she had a point. Malon would only slow her down in the dark.

Link found himself missing the Fire temple. Sure, it had been hot, unpleasant and physically exhausting… but at least it wasn't damp, _dark_, and they had known where the monster was… more or less.

Ruto wound through the dwellings below the water-line. She marveled once more at the architecture that had been spawned by a submerged city. Two levels under, one above, the water. It was engineering on a level beyond anything the Zora were capable of… now. Much had been lost in the cataclysm though. She found a door, another airlock, and cycled through it, spilling water into the dry room beyond. It was just as dark here as elsewhere, but she had been in this room before, with one of her attendants, and there had been lights then. The controls were at the center of the small room, cluttered with pipes and valves. She located the levers she wanted, to increase the steam, that powered the turbines. The Temple sat upon several vents that spewed boiling water. It had been explained to her, but she hadn't paid attention to the lecture, more interested in passing notes with her friends.

The pipes around her began to roar, the heavy thuds turning into a staccato drumming noise, almost like a heartbeat.

Sheik jumped from roof top to roof top, staying as far from the water, and its potential dangers, as possible. She followed the outer wall, as the princess had instructed, and saw a door with the symbol Ruto had traced on the floor with her finger. Sheik threw herself out across the span of water, landed on the walkway in a perfect roll, and regained her foot smoothly at the end. She was through the door a moment later, and closed it tightly. She'd only been vulnerable to the water for two seconds, and moving very quickly during that. Within, she saw a room, that reminded the sheikah of a spider web, or the arteries and veins leading to the heart. A block of metal rose from the floor of the room, holding a bank of levers, as well as small glass things with needles inside, that bobbed slightly, almost looking like compasses. She doubted they were though, because of the expense of such devices, and each needle was pointing in different directions. The strange devices didn't matter. Ruto had said, from the left; forward full, back full, middle, forward quarter, forward quarter, and back quarter.

Six levers.

Sheik grabbed the first, and pushed it all the way forward. The needle by it started to turn to the right.

She grabbed the second, and pulled it back towards her all the way. She left the third in the middle, and moved the next two levers forward a quarter, and pulled the last lever back a quarter. The pipes began to rattle and moan, as their contents accelerated.

Link opened the door cautiously. Navi darted inside, quickly illuminating the corners and room, before flying back to Link and Malon. Navi reminded Link what Ruto had said, and how to maneuver the levers correctly. The pipes began to rattle and moan… it sounded like whatever they'd done was working... then something exploded, violently.

Link opened his eyes blearily. The world seemed… foggy, somehow. He was sitting, with his back against a tree. Link looked up at the short, dead thing. Where the hell was this place? "Navi?" he called… but no one answered.

Shallow water rippled slowly around the tiny island. Link drew his sword, unnerved. Something was wrong here. He stepped out into the water, which rose to the ankles of his boots. Strange shapes twisted in the fog around the island.

"Hello?" he called, worried.

"For seven centuries, I have suffered, imprisoned in a war long since past," a voice said, conversationally. Link couldn't tell if it was male or female.

"It is… gratifying… to finally speak," the voice laughed, a wild, dangerous sound.

"You carry the blood of a Sheikah. It has been… diluted, somehow, by another bloodline… but it is enough," the voice whispered, sounding as if it were caressing Link's cheek.

"I am kokiri," Link said firmly.

"Oh, yes, you bear the taint of Forest magic, but it cannot twist what you are."

A shadow figure appeared from the mist, his eyes glowing a sickly red.

Link raised his sword, noting an identical blade in the other man's hand.

"Do you know where we stand?" the shadow asked, lazily gesturing to the fog around them.

"No," Link said tersely, watching the man, waiting for an attack.

"This is your mind. Well, not all of it, just the parts I turned into a prison," the figure grinned, revealing teeth as black as its skin.

"You are my jailor?" Link asked, hand tightening on his sword.

"Of course," the shadow said, bowing graciously.

Link snarled, and charged. The shadow did not simply look like him, it had his speed, his technique… as well as its own.

Their swords rang and danced against each others.

"Yes! Good!" the shadow said eagerly, hooking Link's ankle with his foot. Link rolled as he fell, regaining his feet and transferring his momentum into his counter-slash, which rang off of the shadow's perfect block.

Malon groaned. Someone was holding her. "Ah, you wake," Link said.

"What happened?"

"One of the pipes burst. I carried you out," Link explained, his fingers blindly tracing the side of her face in the darkness.

"Where's the faerie?" Malon asked.

"Unconscious, in my collar," Link answered.

"Are we waiting for Sheik?"

"Of course," Link soothed, and Malon relaxed against his chest.

The shadow had forgotten what if felt like to hold a woman. For the first time since Ganon had released him from his prison… he gloried in the sensation, soaking up the feel of her skin beneath his fingers. He had almost missed the opportunity. Not until after he sabotaged the pipe. The girl had been near the door, away from the scalding contents, but somehow, the male carried a talisman of Fire. The force of the blast had knocked him senseless… and the shadow had realized what he had nearly destroyed.

His own salvation. The boy carried shadow in his heart, like a sheikah, but had never been taught its uses. He was vulnerable, in a way no Sheikah ever was… and the shadow took the body for his own. He did not need _Ganon_ to strip the mind of a true sheikah for him… so that he could walk again… he had a body now. What need had he of Ganon? Besides, the shadow was under no illusions. Once his usefulness was outweighed by the risk he posed, the dark lord would have expunged him, not rewarded him.

He could go anywhere. The woman loved the body he now wore, and after seven centuries, the love of _any_ woman, no matter her faults, was like air to a drowning man. He could take her away from this, somewhere safe…

"You are beyond beautiful," the shadow whispered. To feel _emotion_ again. To _speak_. The girl's face turned red but she did not pull away.

"Link," the sheikah said tersely. The shadow looked around, as if unable to see the shadow warrior.

"Yes?" The shadow asked.

"The water level diminishes."

"Then let us hunt," the shadow grinned.

"You fight with passion, and courage. Is that all you possess?" the shadow asked Link, spinning his sword in a complex weave, knocking Link's attacks away.

Link wiped blood away from a cut over his eye grimly.

"As we fight, I grow stronger as you weaken," the shadow said calmly.

They locked blades, straining against each other.

"Surrender. It is inevitable," the shadow said, his glowing eyes burning inches away from Link's amethyst.

The shadow frowned, "You hold no hope of victory in your heart. Why do you still fight?" he asked, curious.

Link disengaged from the contest, aiming the sudden release of tension on his sword to impart additional speed, at a blow aimed at the shadow's ankles. The black sword coolly caught the tip of Link's blade and deflected it off true, the shadow's fist smashing into Link's jaw.

Link's own fist lashed out, and to his surprise, connected, breaking the shadow's nose.

"A good strike," the shadow congratulated him, before renewing their duel.

Sheik kept an eye on Link. He was acting slightly… off. The impact to his head might have addled him somewhat. She would stay close, in case he endangered himself by accident. Lichen had grown along the sides of the tunnel they were moving down. The stones were thick with the slippery stuff. Although it provided scant illumination, enough to make out the outlines of the others, Malon wished for the faerie light. Link held her arm gently, as if unable to let go. She didn't know what had happened in the pump room, but she suspected she'd almost died… and now Link wasn't going to let her out of his sight. It was sweet, and she enjoyed his proximity… and she _was_ scared, but it also rankled. She wasn't a child.

The shadow had a problem. Not much of one, but slight. He could feel the power of the sword on his back, and carefully avoided probing it. He could sense its fury at _him_, specifically, and its desire to purge him. If he drew it, protected by the body he wore, he thought he _probably_ would be unaffected… but he _really_ didn't want to test that theory, not with the Lady. They called her the Master Sword, in this era. Such an unoriginal name for so powerful and beautiful a creature. But that beauty would destroy him, if it could, so he politely saluted the sword, and stayed out of her reach.

That left him with the bow and arrows angled over his right shoulder. He wasn't sure though that such mundane weapons would harm the monster Ganon had created.

He fully intended to destroy the monster, not because it was evil (it was), but because doing so would further weaken Ganon, who the shadow now had a keen interest in disposing of, if he wished to live… or perhaps weakening… that might be sufficient.

He heard the stealthy, slithering sounds of the monster, and his shadow-enhanced eyes spotted the peculiar monster instantly in the gloom, but he did not see its core… he wasn't sure what function it performed: brain, heart, eye? Regardless it was a small globe, the size of a child's head, and lay in the center of the monster's formless, nearly invisible, body. It was the only place the shadow knew of that the creature might be harmed. The sloped tunnel ahead of them was partially submerged in water, perhaps knee height.

"Something is near," the shadow whispered. The sheikah nodded, edging in front of him, to _protect_ him. The shadow appreciated the gesture, pretending that it was indeed meant for him.

"I believe I see it," the sheikah said, a tangle-chain spooling from her wrist.

With a burst of speed, the monster attacked, panicked by how it had been herded, partially erupted from the water, lashing with nearly invisible tentacles at the sheikah. To her credit, she did not panic, instead, she used her chain to sever the tentacles, one at a time, dancing among the others. She did not notice that the severed limbs flowed into the water, and were reabsorbed.

But the shadow had let go of the delightful girl, and drew back the string of the peculiar bow the boy had carried, sighting down the shaft, but the zora behind him pushed past, and slashed at the monster with her fins, assisting the sheikah… but further fouling his aim. The monster retreated, disappearing down the tunnel, and their best chance of killing the beast vanished. The shadow sighed, and slipped the arrow back into his quiver, slipping the strung bow across his chest.

"It's cornered, whatever it is," the zora said smugly.

"A cornered beast is always at its most lethal," the shadow warned, as the sheikah edged out into the water.

Link panted, watching the shadow… that showed no sign of fatigue. "You have spirit, I grant you," the shadow acknowledged, "But you are outmatched. Yield."

Link did not acknowledge the shadow. He ripped the hem from his tunic, and tied it around the gash in his thigh, applying pressure to stem the blood. It hurt, but it wouldn't bleed.

Then Link charged, his right leg weakened by the cut, but still able to hold his weight. The shadow shook his head, and met his charge with a beautiful lunge, followed by a blur of seven effortless parries and gambits, Link was barely able to keep up with the shadow's movements, and suffered more nicks and cuts.

"You have a beginner's understanding of the sword," the shadow scoffed, "I was trained by several masters, the like of which have yet to be surpassed."

"This grows tiresome, _yield_," the shadow demanded, irritated.

The group entered a room… at the heart of the Temple. The zora closed the entrance to the tunnel behind them, preventing the monster from escaping. The water had not risen much past their knees, mid thigh, no more. The monster was here, somewhere. The zora crouched, closing her eyes, clearly trying to locate the monster. Ganon had not given the creature much intelligence. It attacked, instead of drawing them out, and separating them, like the shadow would have done.

Its tentacles wrapped around the zora, and lifted her overhead, tightening around her. She screamed, and then electricity leapt from her skin, momentarily illuminating the creature, as it squealed in pain, and threw her at a nearby wall. She hit hard, and disappeared limply under the water.

The sheikah summoned weaves of shadow and death, throwing them at the monster, blasting pieces of it off… in effect, doing no permanent damage. The shadow sighted down the arrow shaft, searching for the sphere in the turbulent water.

_There!_ He loosed the shaft, and the monster screamed, the pitch climbing. The shadow loosed two more shafts into the eye before he could lose sight of it again, using his magic to speed the man's limbs. The monster tried to suck the eye from view, but the sheikah had seen the arrows, and her tangle-whip flashed out, scything through its transparent body, wrapping around the eye, and she pulled, ripping it from the formless substance, and wrestled with it, stabbing her tanto into the sphere repeatedly. The body surged forward, engulfing the warrior, and the eye, forcibly separating them, seeking to drown the sheikah.

The shadow drew another arrow, but hesitated long enough to wrap a spell around the head, and fired. This arrow hit the eye, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then the eye imploded, followed by an explosion, hurling bits of it in all directions, including a half-conscious sheikah warrior, who crashed awkwardly into the water several meters away, moving weakly. Blue fire erupted beneath the waves as the fragments of the monster dissolved, the curse broken.

"Uh… is it dead?" the beautiful girl asked.

"It is indeed," the shadow assured her.

"The… the water medallion," the zora said, stunned, staring at the blue disk in her hand. With a shudder, cool blue light erupted from the disk, illuminating the room. The zora's eyes widened, staring off into the distance.

Ah, a Sage. All the better, she would be a major thorn in the dark lord's side.

Then the light began to fade,

"I am Ruto, Sage of Water," she said firmly, new authority ringing in her voice.

The shadow smirked, and turned to the beautiful girl, to say—

Shadows snapped around him like a vise. The sheikah.

"What are you doing?" the shadow asked, faking confusion.

"Who are you?" the sheikah demanded, holding him in her entrapment weave. It was well done, but he could break it… if he kept her distracted long enough.

"What are you doing, Sheik, its _Link_," the girl protested.

"That was shadow-magic. Who _are_ you," Sheik demanded.

"I merely shot it with arrows," the shadow protested.

"In the dark, without light?" Sheik sneered.

"I used the light from the electricity to aim," the shadow said, but knew that the sheikah wasn't fooled, as she probed at his mind.

"You aren't Link," the sheikah said firmly.

"Sadly, no," the shadow agreed, finishing his counterweave, which popped the chains about him like butter, and he threw a spear of shadow at the upstart, who countered, barely, with a wedge of shadow, deflecting the spear over her head.

"Link, stop this!" the zora demanded. He tossed a globe of silence at her, but water rose, drowning his enchantment.

He needed to end this quickly, and erase the girl's memory of this incident. His plan could still work. He could still take what he was owed.

Water locked around him, and froze, encasing him in agony. He screamed, only his head exposed, disrupting his weaves, including the one that had kept the faerie comatose. She stirred, and stumbled from his collar.

"Navi!" Malon said, as she saw a glow appear in the darkness. "What happened?" the faerie asked, disoriented.

"Link's been possessed," Sheik said stiffly. The faerie spun, staring at the eyes that glared at her. She could feel the shadows intermeshed with Link's spirit.

"Yes…" Navi agreed, throwing more light off.

Malon stared at the monster she had clung to.

"Can we get it out of him?" Ruto asked.

Sheik stepped close to the mostly frozen man, staring closely at the minute shadow weaves.

"Not without killing your friend," the shadow chuckled. She confirmed it a moment later, her stomach clenching.

"What about the master sword?" Navi suggested.

"It broke the spell on the zora," Malon agreed desperately.

"The Lady will kill us both," the shadow said, shaking Link's head condescendingly, as if speaking to children.

"He's right…" Sheik admitted.

"We can't just… leave him like this," Ruto protested.

Sheik nodded, there was one thing she could do… and the shadow scowled at her, knowing what she meant to do, as she framed his face with her hands.

She was going to bind the spirit.

Link sucked in air raggedly, leaning on his sword, his knees weak. The shallow water was stained pink around him, but he did not look away from his opponent.

"You are nothing. It is time to accept that your time has passed," the shadow said, almost gently. Link forced his way to his feet, and stumbled towards the shadow.

He wasn't dead yet.

"Very well," the shadow shrugged.

Link reached deep within himself, drawing more heavily on his inner reserves, sucking them dry. After this, he was finished. He attacked high, cut left, and slammed his knee under the graceful block with his clumsy strike, doubling the shadow over, and he cracked his elbow down on the back of its neck. The shadow slammed its fist into the gash on his thigh, and Link's leg gave out, spilling him into the water. Link blocked two strikes from his back, rolled to the side, and struggled to rise, still blocking the hail of black steel.

"Interloper!" someone screamed, filling Link's mind with agony, yet perversely, clearing his vision. Another figure had entered this strange place, and a black chain spun through the air, wrapping about the shadow's black sword, and pulled. Link roared, and threw himself forward on his knees, plunging his sword into the shadow's belly, twisting savagely. The shadow screamed, shattering the chains of the figure, and tried to hack at Link. The young man let go of his sword, grabbing the shadow's wrists, halting the sword with the strength of the desperate. The shadow brought his knee up into Link's chin. He felt teeth loosen, and he bit his tongue, but refused to yield. The black chain came again, wrapping about the shadow's chest, pinning his arms to his sides.

"So do I name thee, and forever bind thee!" the figure roared, the words feeling like a scab being torn away from his mind.

"No! I will not yield to _you_," the shadow snarled, straining against the chains. Link grabbed his sword, and twisted it around, making the shadow scream.

Malon stared at Sheik. She was just standing there, trembling. "Is anything happening?" she asked the faerie.

"Yes," the blue woman said tersely.

Then the screaming started. She'd never heard Sheik scream before, a moment later, Link joined her, their eyes locked. Black lines wriggled under his skin, and ice around the man started to fracture as he strained every muscle in his body.

And then silence fell. Sheik collapsed, disappearing under the water until Malon grabbed her, and pulled her up. The sheikah's eyes were closed, but she still breathed… slowly.

Navi landed on Link's shoulder, and touched a hand to his cheek… "She did it," the faerie confirmed, looking at Ruto, "Let him go."

Something shuddered in the temple, and everyone stared up fearfully.

"The turbines are failing," Ruto said, afraid. They had to leave, _now_.

Ruto carried Link across her shoulder, and Malon struggled under Sheik's weight.

"You're the water sage, can't you just, hold it back?" Malon gasped.

"Not the whole _ocean,_" Ruto said. Water began to trickle back down the tunnel, slowing them down, until they reached the large city. Ruto gestured, and the water around them surged, propelling them up to the top level on a narrow column of water.

"Hurry!" Navi said. The water level was rising, the rate increasing. The trickle was fast approaching a flood.

The water had already engulfed the first level.

Malon stumbled, almost falling, but Ruto's hand steadied her as they tried to run through the city. It hadn't seemed so large earlier…

The water had begun to lap around their ankles, when they finally saw the airlock ahead. Malon didn't remember the last sprint, her mind was numb, and her body screamed, but when she returned to herself, they stood within the airlock, which was half-flooded with water. Ruto cycled the doors, and Malon saw the giant fish waiting for them patiently. The water was starting to fill this room as well, and Ruto half threw Link into the fish's mouth, then helped boost Malon up over the teeth, and onto the tongue. The jaws closed, and Malon passed out.

Link woke slowly. His mind felt… burned.

He could hear the echo of water bubbling somewhere…

He was thirsty.

Link opened his eyes, disoriented by the darkness.

"You're awake," Navi said.

"What happened? I was fighting… something…" Link said. It hurt to think about it.

"The spirit was bound inside you. It can't control you now," Navi explained.

"Water would be nice," Link said, recognizing the stars overhead.

"Where are we?" Link asked, further confused.

"Two days from Kakariko village," Sheik said calmly.

"You've been unconscious for almost a week," Navi said gently.

"The zoras?"

"Ruto is the Water Sage. Their warriors are returning to the domain, the ice has melted, and they prepare for war," Navi summarized.

Zelda gasped, waking from the dream, covered in a cold sweat. She scrabbled for parchment, her blind fingers finding a quill, upsetting the inkwell. She scribbled hastily on the parchment with what was left in the pot, ignoring what was spilt, her eyes wide, unseeing, still in the grip of her power.

Her eyes burned with future possibilities, with only one path possible. She pulled the threads of destiny apart, tracing the paths, in both her mind, and on the parchment, divorced from her body.

There. This was the way.

Ser Donovan sat nearby, watching his liege in the throws of her own power. He had seen this once before, and it had terrified him, to watch a girl of ten years carve words with a knife into the table she had sat at, eating, a few moments before, her eyes white.

The queen had died the next day, and the cryptic verses became painfully clear, while the princess lay unconscious after her ordeal.

When the princess collapsed, dragging her bound hair in the ink, the knight gently picked her up, and carried her to a nearby alcove to sleep. Then he walked back to the parchment. Zelda had sealed it with wax, and written on the outside of the roll were specific instructions:

_Deliver this scroll to Link, now. Link: do not open this scroll until you have met the Sage of Shadows. _

Donovan frowned, but picked up the scroll, and began his search of the catacombs… he didn't think the boy was back yet…


	12. Chapter 12 Whispers of the Dead

The emissary hesitated at the edge of the village. Within the dead lay in wait… but they were servants of her master. She had brought warriors with her, a few, but she did not _need_ them. The emissary shook her head, and walked through the shattered gates of the village. It had tasted her master's mercy. She walked past the devastation, unaffected, heading towards the location of her master's target. At last, he had located his quarry.

Nabooru, right hand of Ganondorf himself moved towards the town well, dispelling the aversion weaves, and dropped down the well, her magic cushioning the fall easily, while her minions used the rungs of the ladder.

A man crouched behind an illusion of some kind, as if hoping she would leave. She reached out, and pulled the life from him, shattering the shadow magic as she stepped through it. The Triforce of Wisdom was here.

Madam Malka was a wytch. She belonged to no tribe, and her magic stemmed from the wyld times. Her people had been the ones to create the Wyldeways… those that remained. Normally, the soldiers knew her as a healer only… but none forgot what she really was.

The gerudo mage blasted the corridor with sand and heat, disorienting the armed men who were trying to kill her, while she gutted and sliced her way forward.

Madam Malka tapped her staff's butte on the cobbled stones, "_Spargere magicusum,"_ she spat, and the gerudo stumbled, as the wytch's wild magic scattered the magic of the sandstorm.

Madam Malka was over five hundred years old, and as she moved through the tunnel, brushing aside screaming men, she drew her magic in, armoring her in layer upon layer of wards, shields, and enchantments. She would not tolerate this girl to bring war to her home. Around her, the ghosts mustered, their eyes sharp and cold.

Malka pointed the staff she leaned upon at the gerudo, and spat a word that could not be spoken by mortal tongue. The gerudo was thrown through the air. She would have been unmade, if not for her own powerful wards protecting her.

The soldiers pulled back, giving the wytch elbow room in the narrow catacombs.

When the gerudo regained her feet, she gazed at Malka with respect, and hatred.

"You can't win, _girl_," Malka cackled, leaning on her staff.

The gerudo cocked her head, "You choose dangerous ground to fight," the enemy magic user said slyly. Then she lifted her hands, and the walls of the catacombs shook, simultaneously, as the gerudo screamed in her native tongue.

Malka leveled her staff, and threw both fire and lightning at the girl, but whatever magic she was channeling simply absorbed the attacks, and directed them into her spell.

One brave fool charged, stabbing at the gerudo with his sword. The second his sword entered the magical field, there was a flash, and ashes drifted lightly in the tunnel.

Then the spell was finished, and released. The catacombs trembled and shuddered, dust drifting from the ceiling, and men screamed in the darkness.

"What have you done?" Malka coughed. Something powerful smashed against her defenses, squeezing against them, and Malka gritted her teeth, reinforcing her wards. The men around her were crushed to the tunnel floor, as if by invisible boulders, and the ghosts screamed, attempting to flee. Rage washed over her, not her own, but that of another.

"I'll not yield to the likes of you," Malka sneered, as the behemoth clumsily struck at her.

Impa staggered as something broke the binding… and the Interloper awoke, ancient, and terrible in its fury. Shadow magic flooded the catacombs, hungrily searching for the living. Impa grabbed Donovan's wrist, and Zelda's, jerking a cloak of shadow around them, barely in time to deflect the probing tendrils of the Interloper. Then someone attracted its attention… but Impa could sense approaching enemies.

"The enemy comes, ser knight," Impa said grimly, gazing at the door from the war room. The knight drew his sword, and secured his shield firmly on his arm.

"Let them come," he said coldly, feeling the ancient blood of heroes stirring in his veins. Impa thought it a pity that there were so few of the blood-line left. If Donovan had not been the only one of his kind among the royal guard, they might have been able to kill Ganon seven years ago…

The door shuddered as something hit the reinforced wood and metal banding.

Impa couldn't risk teleporting, not with the Interloper nearby. She touched the medallion of shadow beneath her tunic, little more than a trinket after the shadow temple's desecration by Ganon.

She readied her hooked swords, twirling them idly. The barrage continued.

"Perhaps we should open the door?" Donovan suggested.

The barrier splintered, and stalfos shouldered their way inside.

Donovan blocked a rusty cutlass on his shield, cleaving the undead warrior in twain with his heavy sword, his blue eyes filled with cold glee.

Impa's swords flashed, blocking and tugging weapons off-true. She caught one stalfoes's sword, and redirected it to tangle a second undead warrior's axe, ducking low beneath Donovan's sword, and hooked a fourth stalfoe's ankle with her second sword, spilling it to the ground, where Donovan dismembered it.

Impa felt… disappointed. The spirits that inhabited these bones had not been warriors. Soldiers, perhaps, because they did not understand the intricacies of the weapons they wielded.

Then the gerudo entered the room, and the battle truly began.

Nabooru frowned. The armored man was not like the others. She tried to pull his life away… and nothing happened. He raised his chin defiantly, and laughed at her.

Beyond them though… Nabooru's eyes widened. The princess.

The Sheikah struck first, her nasty swords probing Nabooru's defenses. The Spirit Sage's thin scimitars darted and twirled, fending off the shadow-warrior. Then the armored man attacked, and Nabooru knew she was in danger. She had attempted to play the two allies against each other, to cause them to interfere with each others attacks.

Instead, they moved together, _exploiting _their proximity. Her wards flared from the knight's sword, and even with the protection, she still felt herself knocked back a pace. _He's strong_.

The woman was faster than Nabooru, but not as strong. The Spirit Sage blasted the shadow-warrior's magic weaves apart, preventing her entrapment, and managed to cut the stunned woman's belly somewhat, before the knight's shield could knock her blade away. She blasted dust and sand into the knight's eyes, the tips of her scimitars probing his armor as he blindly blocked and defended himself.

She drew blood, but not enough, before the shadow-warrior recovered, and swarmed her with blow after treacherous blow. She nearly lost a scimitar twice to those wicked hooked swords. The sheer speed of the strikes kept Nabooru from countering with a spell or slash of her own, while the knight used his finger to wipe the grit from his eyes.

More stalfoes arrived at Nabooru's back, and she ducked back through them, stunned to realize how much her wards had been depleted. She drew on her power, reinforcing the damaged weaves. She didn't have time to recast the magic, so the hasty repairs would have to be sufficient. The sheikah quickly retreated back to her ally's side, and together, they began to tear apart her minions, again. She could not _overcome_ the defenders… not by conventional means…

She saw a complex and powerful enchantment behind the pair, and poured Spirit magic into it. The artifact exploded, violently, throwing bones and warriors in every direction. Even before the dust had settled, the two warriors were already struggling to rise. Nabooru darted past them, grabbed the princess, and threw her over one shoulder, shoving past the reinforcements waiting in the tunnel.

"Kill them," she ordered, and the possessed bones surged forward, trying to be the first to kill the enemy within. They would be annihilated, but they were no great loss, not to her master… especially not when he saw the prize…

Sheik felt her gossip stone tremble in a pouch at her waist. She pulled the stone out, and peered into it.

"Princess Zelda has been taken, minutes ago," Impa told her, and fed an image into the young warrior's mind, guessing their route.

Sheik was three hours from Kakariko, approaching from the south. The route Impa gave her headed north west.

"I am too far," Sheik admitted.

She could feel Impa's despair.

"How did this happen?" Sheik demanded.

"They released the Interloper," Impa said, tiredly.

"Has it been contained?" Sheik asked, frightened. The interloper within Link was but a fragment. That which had been imprisoned within the well was another matter entirely.

"It has fled to the shadow temple," Impa said quietly. That was the _last_ place they wanted such a creature. At the moment, the temple was useless, due to Ganon's meddling, but if the creature managed to reverse the damage… and harness the shadow temple… Sheik felt the blood leave her face.

"Come home Sheik. Hurry," Impa said, and the gossip stone went dim.

Sheik placed the stone back in her pouch, and shook Link. Malon was curled against him in the early morning chill.

His eyes snapped open.

"We must ride. _Now_," Sheik said sharply.

They entered the village at almost a full gallop, leading their train of horses behind them. Several ReDeads looked up, and began to shamble towards them, until Sheik screamed, lashing at them with shadow magic, and the tortured souls shambled away from the magic.

Sheik dropped down through the well, ignoring the ladder in her haste. Link followed, sliding down the ladder with the sides of his boots and gloved hands, reaching the bottom a few seconds behind her. Within… their sanctuary…

She recognized faces among the dead as she ran. She had grown up alongside some of these men and women.

Link followed Sheik as best he could, Navi's light illuminating the massacre.

Some had been crushed, impossibly. Link didn't know of a weapon capable of such injuries. And where had the sand come from?

They found the survivors huddled in the center of the catacombs. There weren't many.

A wytch moved stiffly among them, tending to their injuries. He saw Ser Donovan, and Impa. The knight had lost his sword-hand… or the fingers, at any rate.

"Boy," the knight said stiffly, nodding to him.

Link nodded back.

Impa's tunic was sticky with blood, but she didn't seem to notice, or care.

"Hero, follow me, your aid is required _now_," Impa said roughly.

"Hold!" Donovan barked, and everyone hesitated. He pulled something from his belt, and flipped it to Link, who caught it, surprised. It was a scroll. Navi landed on his wrist, and read the instructions on the side.

"It says not to read it until we find the Sage of Shadows," Navi told Link. Link shoved the scroll into his wallet, and followed Impa and Sheik back out.

"We brought horses with us," Link shouted to Ser Donovan.

"Very well," the knight said, only half listening, staring at his hand.

Impa brushed past the hylian girl at the top of the well, and led Sheik and Link deeper into kakariko village, specifically, the graveyard. She thrust aside anything that wandered towards them, passing the royal tombs, and finally, stopped before a cramped cave in the cliff face. She knelt, and entered the equally cramped passage.

"More tunnels," Link sighed.

Malon watched Link disappear into the early morning shadows, flanked by _two_ sheikah.

Whatever had happened here… a man weakly rolled over the lip of the well, landing hard on the grass.

"Are you all right?" Malon asked. He'd been stabbed in the gut, and the wound was bleeding through the bandage.

"Evacuating," he whimpered. A woman was next, also wounded.

Link stood up, eyeing the antechamber they stood in. A massive stone door, with the Sheikah symbol (the all-seeing eye, with the bloody tear, and three eye lashes) carved into it blocked their way.

"That looks rather… permanent," Navi ventured, glancing at the sheikah.

Impa walked up to the wall and slapped her palm against it, snarling in a dark, frightening tongue, tendrils of shadow wriggled from her fingers, arranging themselves into arcane glyphs, which flashed, and then the massive door began to rumble, and sink.

"The creature lies within. It will be at the center. Many horrors and dangers await us in the darkness, but we cannot falter," Impa said grimly.

Link heard voices whispering to him in the dark, and slowly drew the master sword, her mind joining with his, and the whispers retreated, like shadows before the sun. "Then let us bring light to this place," Link said slowly.

"Were it so simple," Impa said, leading the way.

"Wherever there is Light, Shadows are cast as well. It is the natural order of things," Sheik explained.

ReDead shuffled from their places of unrest, towards the voices, begging for release.

Impa tried to repel them, and found that her magic lay against her fingertips, useless, and impotent.

_The Interloper_.

A rotting limb grabbed her wrist, and the ReDead pulled her forward. Impa smashed the heel of her palm into the flat wooden mask that covered the rotting face, knocking the mask up, blinding the creature, which gave her the time she needed to whip a sword off her back, and remove its hand at the wrist.

Sheik retreated, her chain flashing, to wrap around one enemy's arm. She pulled, sharply, and the ReDead stumbled forward. She spun around her enemy, pulling the chain taut as she jumped onto its back, bearing it to the floor, and trapping its arms. Her tanto flashed as she hastily worked to separate the head from the neck. She didn't have weapons designed for _dismemberment_… and her magic wasn't working. Her poisoned throwing needles would be useless against ReDeads, similarly for her flash bombs.

Of them, Link seemed the best prepared, his beautiful sword dancing among the corpses, and Sheik hesitated for a moment, seeing his face.

His face held rapture, in the hold of another, his movements beautiful and purer than any mortal's could be. The Master Sword had been wielded through the centuries by many of the ancient blood-line, all of them masters of sword craft, and their knowledge reinforced that of the young man before her, who had become an avatar, an extension of the sword, just as it had become an extension of him. They were one.

Then the ReDead bucked under her, and Sheik snapped back to the present, leaning heavily on her tanto, sawing at the gap between vertebrae.

Impa's short swords flashed, hooking or pushing the ReDeads about, taking off heads when appropriate.

And then, silence fell. The tunnel stank of rot and decomposition, piled with corpses, leaking greenish fluids best not identified.

"This should have been done long ago," Link said, looking at the corpses with pity.

"There were too many, and we had a war to fight," Sheik said defensively.

Link crouched next to a very small ReDead, and placed a hand against its tiny shoulder.

"Some things must be done regardless," he said, emotion choking his voice, as he quietly commended the undead child, of unknown gender, to the next life.

He would _destroy_ the man who had done this. Rage clutched at his heart, as strong as the disgust and grief. In every war, the children were always the first to suffer. Many had found refuge in the Lost Woods, after their lives were destroyed… but for every child to find safety among the Kokiri, three never had the chance.

"These were once Sheikah; family, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives," Impa said quietly. "We did not prolong their suffering for nothing. They understood sacrifice, and would endure as long as was required, until we defeated Ganon, and could return, to put them to peace."

"It doesn't matter," Link said harshly, "We're here _now_."

In the darkness, a tear escaped one corner of his eye, but the sheikah saw it.

Neither had cried. Not when they found their loved ones… desecrated, nor when they realized their lives were over. Instead, their grief and loss had crystallized into retribution… terrible, cold… and unstoppable. Ganon believed himself the self-styled Dark Lord of Darkness… but he did not know evil as the Sheikah did. They lived among the shadows, in a way a gerudo desert thief would never understand.

He wished to rule the darkness? He was a fool. The darkness understood no master, it served its own ends, and could be temporarily bent to another purpose, but never _ruled_.

The Sheikah would show him true darkness, when his time came… and his end would not be slow. They'd had seven years to decide how to best extract pain from him in the quantity he had sown.

"All right, Benjamin, where's the rope?" Malon demanded. The young soldier, his left arm ending in a stump at the elbow, hastily tossed the line to Malon. He was dizzy, but the bandage around his arm was secure, and sadly, he was one of the more physically capable among the wounded survivors. Malon felt bad leaning on him, but she couldn't get these people ready by herself.

She used the rope to tie the legs of two people to one of the horses. Both men were barely conscious, slumped forward in the saddle, but that didn't matter with the rope. Malon cut the excess, and moved to the next horse. There had been eighty-three people in the catacombs yesterday. Now, she was staring at nineteen men and women, most wounded, or crippled in some way, with only ten horses. She didn't know how they were going to get everyone out… but the day was wasting, and Ser Donovan seemed to believe he knew where one of the rebel camps were… but without the sheikah, they would have to make the journey before night fell, or else the stalhounds would tear them apart.

Link stared at the corridor, then back at the sheikah. "We're doing _what?"_ he demanded. Blades rhythmically sliced through the air within the corridor, hidden mechanisms or magic propelling the traps with implacable intent, their movements seemingly erratic and variable.

There was a lot of sharp metal.

"Just do as we do," Sheik said simply.

Impa went first, skipping forward over a low blade, at ankle height, landing behind the sweep of a knee-high blade, leaning forward under a blade that swept across her shoulders, and stood up straight, turning to the side, avoiding a blade that would have cut her from crotch to crown. She jumped high over two blades, her back practically touching the ceiling from the force of her jump, and she fell, tucked into a tight ball, rolling through the bottom wedge of an X of two crossed blades.

She stood up on the other side, and gestured at them, as if saying, _see? Easy. _

Link had a better idea.

"Hold on, Sheik," he said, stepping in front of her. He drew the master sword, and as one blade passed him, he struck at it. The metal sheared off, falling to the tunnel floor with a clatter.

He grinned, and cautiously began to advance, staying just outside the reach of the blades, shortening them as they passed. It took him longer, but eventually he reached where Impa was standing. Her eyes were furious, but she turned, and stalked deeper into the tunnels. It's not like the trap kept Ganon from desecrating the temple in the first place, which simply made it an obstacle now, not an asset.

The next part Link didn't like any better. Aside from the narrow ledge they stood on, the room was empty. There was no floor, just a black pit.

"Jump where _we _jump," Impa hissed, her eyes glowing with red slotted pupils. Link nodded. Impa jumped from the ledge and landed on something invisible… It didn't seem too wide, because she kept her feet close together, crouched, and jumped to the next. The distance was not great, only two meters, but it was far enough that one had to jump, they could not step. Terrific.

Zelda woke with a start, her heart hammering. She had foreseen her capture… parts of it… but that knowledge did not protect her from what she saw when she woke.

She was in her royal chambers… the ones she had occupied before the castle fell. It was just as she'd left it. Her desk still held the scribbles and drawings of a child, and her toys were still neatly arranged on shelves. She remembered the dresses that Impa had knocked from her hands, demanding they leave at once, because there simply was no time.

She felt the memories of childhood assault her, the happy times like salt in the wounds of her current predicament, making the ugliness greater.

And the man responsible for it all sat in the chair by the fire, where her father had sat, to read bedtime stories of past heroes and tales to her. He even wore her father's humble crown.

"Welcome home, Princess Zelda," Ganondorf said, his voice cultured and deep, like evil velvet.

"Ganon," she said simply, sitting up, and adjusting her dress. His eyes flared at the rude shortening of his name, but the calm façade did not crack.

"Do you know why I have brought you here?" the monster asked.

"If I remain silent, you will no doubt tell me," Zelda said.

Ganon smiled slightly, "I brought you here, because memories have power."

"That which has transpired shapes what has not yet come to pass," Zelda said.

Ganon nodded, "Now, I assume you have fond memories of this place?"

"Very," Zelda assured him flatly, her eyes watching him without fear.

"I have found that for those who are not nomadic, you attribute falsehoods to the places you dwell," Ganon continued conversationally, "For instance, this is the place where you slept. Thus, it is associated with peace, safety, security. I intend to… open your eyes," Ganon smiled.

"Should I begin to scream and beg now, or later?" Zelda asked her captor calmly.

Then his hand was crushing her throat, pinning her to the bed, his eyes dark.

"You have spirit. I wonder how long it will take to break it?" he purred, his fingers ripping at her dress.

She did not flinch, or look away from the monster. She knew he felt the arousal of a man, but that held little interest for him in this. This was about domination. He sought to break her, in the way he had broken others. He sought what he believed their most precious treasure, and he took it, piece by piece. If that did not work, he moved on to the next thing he believed the victim cherished. Her Wisdom let her perceive his intent, in the same way his Power amplified his strength and magical ability far beyond mortal norm. He could not kill her, not yet. He needed one more piece of the Triforce before he could do that.

She felt his invasion, and it hurt, for she had never slept with a man. She had thought herself prepared… but somehow, this battered aside her intellect, and struck at a vulnerable, primal part of her. Zelda's Wisdom fled, leaving her a scared young woman, who had not yet seen her nineteenth birthday, as she was violated and raped.

Link landed badly on the last invisible pillar, and slipped, his hands scrabbling at the invisible perch, saving himself from death. He pulled himself cautiously back up. His boots were tucked into the back of his belt, and he felt the edges of the pillar with his toes. Impa waited, standing on a stone ledge that led to an archway.

"In your own time, hero," the sheikah elder said impatiently. Link told her where she could shove that time, in kokiri. He jumped, landing beside the woman heavily, pulling his boots back on.

"We are not far from the council chamber," Sheik assured Link, as she landed next to him gracefully.

"You used to _live_ in this place?" Link demanded. It was a death trap.

"Yes. We trained here," Sheik said sadly.

The next chamber held more ReDead, but only a few, which Link and the others quickly put to rest. The temple shuddered, and shadows leapt within the light Navi cast.

"What's happening?" Link demanded, fighting to keep his balance. If this had happened a minute ago, while he was on the pillars…

"The Interloper is attempting to lift the curse Ganon placed," Impa said, shouting to be heard over the rumble.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Link asked, not understanding.

"Why didn't he make a monster here?" Navi asked.

"Because he did not possess the Shadow Medallion," Impa explained. The quake had began to ease.

"So he simply cursed the temple, that even if the Sage of Shadows was awakened, they would be unable to appose him," Impa finished.

"So… why are we trying to stop the Interloper?" Link asked again.

"Because, it _is_ of the shadows, and with the power of the shadow temple, in addition to its own, it might be able to destroy all life in Hyrule," Sheik shuddered.

"So it's stronger than Ganon?" Navi said, curious.

"No. Ganon is _capable_ of destroying everything that lives in our land, but then he would be the ruler of nothing, so he must therefore show restraint in capturing his prize. The Interloper simply desires to see the world burn," Impa explained.

They pressed forward. Around them, the air felt heavy, and Navi clung to Link's collar, barely able to stand. So much evil…

"What is this?" Link asked, he felt like he had iron bands around his chest, limiting his breaths.

"The ghosts are restless here," Impa said, her eyes glowing red, as she stared about her.

"Dangerously?" Navi asked.

"No. These have haunted the temple since it was created, patrolling its halls, watching over us. They understand the danger the Interloper poses… and are attempting to shield us from its influence," Impa said, her glowing eyes discerning the tangled weaves of magic that spun about them.

"Not doing a very good job," Link wheezed.

"They are only ghosts," Sheik said, shrugging.

"We are close to the center," Impa panted. It felt like walking underwater. The air had become so thick, that Link could feel it against his face as he moved. He held the master sword in his hand, and the pressure eased somewhat, but he still couldn't breathe as well as he'd like.

They came to a dark archway, which seemed to be the norm here, but both sheikah hesitated.

"Link… this will not be pleasant," Sheik said gently.

"Why?" Link asked suspiciously, glancing between them.

"This passage will test you. If you fail, you will be driven mad. All Sheikah must journey through this darkness, to be born anew on the other side. We have been tested already, but you have not," Impa explained.

"I've got a magic sword," Link shrugged.

"You carry our blood, weak as it might be, hero. That the interloper was able to possess you is proof of that," Sheik interrupted firmly.

"So… what does this test entail?" Link asked, worried.

"Those who are not fit for the shadows will fail, before their powers can destroy them. You have never touched your own power, and as such, it is strangely stunted, and twisted. I don't know how the passage will react," Impa admitted.

"Right," Link said, scowling.

"I am with you," Navi whispered from his collar.

_I am a kokiri. I do not know pain, I do not know fear. I know only my love for the forest, _Link recited in his mind, feeling his resolve stiffen. He was the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, and the most powerful sword ever created.

The shadows could go to hell.

He walked forward, into the misty darkness, scowling.

Zelda lay on the floor of her bedchambers, her hair askew, unbound, as naked as the rest of her. Her face hurt from where _He_ had pinned her head to the stone. Blood and seed were drying on the sides of her thighs, and running between her legs. She didn't notice how cold the stone was, nor much of anything. _He_ had left some time ago, satisfied with his work. To her shame, he had indeed succeeded in his task. The security of this room had been marred by his actions. She felt like crying, but she couldn't. Already, the Wisdom was returning, divorcing her from the mindless turmoil, before she could express it, to purge it from herself, coating the damage in layers of numbing contemplation.

Presently, someone entered the room. Objects were tossed at her, and Zelda slowly looked up. A gerudo woman calmly stared down at her. She was swathed in rich silk robes, but cut for ease of movement. A pair of scimitars clung to her back, and Zelda felt as if she should recognize this woman.

"You should clean yourself up," the woman suggested, gesturing to the bucket of water near the door. Zelda realized the objects lying on her back were soft, probably clothing.

"Who are you?" Zelda asked. The woman continued, as if Zelda hadn't spoken, "My master expects you presentable, to attend him tonight at dinner."

"We have met before," Zelda said, curious.

The gerudo woman turned, and left, locking the door behind her.

Zelda stared faintly at the door. Where had she known that woman from? She sensed it was important, but her gift of prophesy never came when beckoned.

She walked to the bucket, and pulled out the clean, wet rag. She had a mess to clean up.

Link stared down at his sword, and the blood that dripped from it. Malon's eyes stared up at him, sightlessly. Blood clung to his hands, but worst of all, he felt satisfied.

"No," he said, tearing his gaze away from the scene. This was not real. He continued to walk, opening the door to the room from Lon Lon Ranch, and stepped through.

"Stop!" Saria said, desperately, holding up her hands. They stood in a forest clearing.

"Please son, no closer," she begged.

"You aren't real," Link told her.

"I _am _real, please, I don't want to die, don't come any—"

Link felt a trip line break beneath his foot, and a noose snapped his mother into the air, to dangle lifelessly, her neck broken, sightless eyes staring at Link. She swayed gently over head as he passed, and Link faltered.

"This is not real," he said again, shaken. It wasn't real but seeing his mother die, illusionary or not, was something that would never leave him.

He stepped from the clearing, and the air became hot and heavy. A dragon roared nearby, and he saw a hammer lying across his path.

"Brother! Throw me the hammer!" Darunia yelled, smashing ineffectually at Volvagia, whose tail held him fast, while it opened its jaws for the killing blow.

"You aren't real," Link said sadly, his feet never slowed. Volvagia's teeth playfully jerked one of Darunia's powerful arms off, swallowing it, while the Goron screamed, and began to gibber and plead. Link looked away. It did not sound like an easy death.

"Is this all?" Link asked angrily, "To think, people actually go mad here," he snorted derisively, talking to distract himself from the gurgles and ripping noises behind him.

Then he was wading through chilly water up to his waist. A monster of some kind held Ruto in its tentacles, slowly crushing the life from her. She reached for him, wordlessly begging for his help. Link continued walking, disappearing down another corridor…

And he emerged into a cold room, without light. A soft blue light brightened from his collar, and Navi rose, looking around.

"Are we… out?" she asked. Link shrugged, he didn't know, but the way forward was blocked by another Sheikah symbol door. He pushed on it, but nothing happened.

"I guess so," Link said.

From behind him, two more shapes emerged from the archway, looking shaken.

"That was… unpleasant," Sheik shuddered.

"No matter, we are close," Impa said, staring at the door. She placed a hand to the stone, saying the dark words again, and the door opened. Sheik went first, then Impa. Navi darted into the next room with them, scouting for Link.

"No!" someone snarled, grabbing his shoulder with fingernails of ice.

Link stared behind him, into a shadow of himself.

"The test is not over," the shadow hissed, his red eyes glowing.

"You… Sheik bound you," Link said.

"Exactly. If this was real, I would not be able to take physical form like this," the shadow agreed quickly.

"You, or the other group could be part of the test," Link pointed out, frustrated.

"Yes, but I'm not," the shadow said.

"Prove it," Link said flatly.

The shadow struck, him, across the cheek with his hand. And it hurt.

"Reality is pain," the shadow told him, "Cut your hand with the sword you carry. Go on,"

Link frowned, but slowly slid his palm across the blade. He saw blood drip, but his hand felt like nothing had happened.

"You cannot pass this test, your blood is tainted," the shadow told him, "The test cannot decide if you pass, because it does not know what you are."

Link stared at the shadow, "Why are you helping me?"

"I'm not. I'm helping _me_. If you die, I won't be released, I will be dead as well. Your _friend _made sure of that," the shadow spat, incensed.

"Then why not end it?" Link pressed.

"A peculiar question for you to ask," the shadow said, staring at him bemusedly.

Link shrugged.

"Because I was trapped in a fancy piece of glass for over seven hundred years, able to think, but not perceive. Trapped within you, I feel what you feel, see what you see…" the shadow said, shuddering with disturbing ecstasy, "It's not the same as being _free_, but given the alternatives, I've had worse prisons," the shadow grinned, revealing his unnatural black teeth.

"Assuming I believe _anything _you're telling me… how would I hypothetically escape this place?" Link said skeptically.

"A wise precaution. I will say only this: Reality is Pain," the shadow touched a hand to Link's shoulder, and it felt like glass crawling under his skin, as the shadow wriggled back inside.

Link screamed, as the agony rippled over him… and he felt like he was falling.

He smashed his face against unyielding stones, and rapped the knuckles of the hand that held his sword as well.

"Oww…" Link grunted, his voice muffled by smashed lips.

It hurt.

"Thank you," Link grumbled. When he looked up, the room was unchanged, but there were subtle, small details, something the room had lacked before. Like a dream, when you don't notice the discrepancies, and mistake it for reality…

He rolled over, and pricked his finger on the master sword. It bled, and it hurt.

The hand he had cut in the dream world place was whole and intact.

He also realized he could see, the moment Navi erupted into cold light from his collar. The room had not been lit by torches, or lights of any kind.

"Uh, Navi… could you dim your light," Link asked, curious. The faerie shrugged, and hid in his hood, plunging the room into… _not_ darkness.

"Navi, is the room dark?" Link asked.

"I believe the term is _black as ink,_" Navi answered, sounding surly.

"Huh… you sure?" Link quizzed.

"Yes," Navi grumbled.

"Okay," Link shrugged. He could see in the dark now. Terrific.

"You are of the shadows now, shadow-kin," Impa said, stepping from the… well, the tunnel was still dark, but Link could see disturbing patterns in it, like rippling water, filled with snakes and other nasty things.

"That is really disturbing," Link said, nodding towards the tunnel.

"It's supposed to be," Sheik said simply.

Impa walked to the stone door, and placed a hand to it, just like in the dream.

"Alright, hold on just a second, before I walk anywhere with you," Link said. The women turned to look at him.

"Hit me, prove you're real," Link challenged, crossing his arms.

The women exchanged a glance, and Sheik slapped him.

"Less enthusiasm, please," Link grumbled.

"Do you wish me to hit you as well?" Impa asked.

"No, that ought to do it," Link said working his jaw.

"Do I hit like a girl?" Sheik asked.

"I lose, either way I answer that," Link said ruefully.

"Ah, at last, he learns wisdom," Navi sighed.

"Don't we have a monster to kill?" Link said pointedly. He felt distinctly outnumbered.

Malon dismounted from the horse, and helped the injured knight down. He shook off her help.

"It's just some fingers," he said harshly.

A sheikah male with a sword on his back approached.

"Impa informed me of your coming, but not the nature… though it is good to see you again, Ser Donovan," the shadow-warrior said politely.

"A gerudo released the Interloper from the well. Impa, Sheik, and the hero are attempting to subdue it. The princess was captured, and we are the only survivors," the knight said, swiftly bringing the sheikah up to speed.

"Do we know where she was taken?" Lito demanded.

"Where do you think, boy?" Donovan said heavily, despair hanging from his shoulders like a crushing cloak.

"The castle," Lito said flatly, and the knight nodded.

Other rebels were scrambling from the tents nearby, and began helping injured comrades off their horses. Madam Malka remained seated on her horse, barking out orders in her dried, reedy voice. Over half of these men had been under her care at one time or another, and jumped like children for a schoolmarm.

Among those helping, were two _armed_ gerudo.

"What are they still doing here?" Malon asked, nodding towards the enemies.

"They swore an oath to serve me. I don't think they realized it was magically binding when they did it," Lito said, his eyes and voice coldly amused.

"Trustworthy?" Malon asked.

"They have done well so far, in counter-raids against moblins," Lito admitted, watching the desert warriors, "and they'll die before they betray us, the magic ensures that," Lito said confidently.

"I've never heard of such a thing before," Ser Donovan said, curious.

"We're not in the habit of taking prisoners," Lito shrugged, "we prefer execution after interrogation. It's much simpler, and tidier."

Malon didn't envy the two women. She didn't pity them either. They were gerudo.

Impa stood outside the door, and looked to Sheik and Link. The walls of the temple shook again for a good five minutes, before subsiding enough for Impa to be heard over the rumble.

"We have to strike its heart," Impa said.

"Sounds simple," Link said suspiciously.

"It does not have a consistent form, so its heart may be anything," Impa admitted.

"Wait… no _consistent_ form?" Navi demanded.

"It doesn't remember what it looked like, so it may have taken any number of forms," Impa explained.

"And we won't know till we walk in," Link asked.

"Exactly," Impa confirmed.

"It might also not be visible," Sheik added.

"This does not sound like it will be fun," Link complained, limbering up his shoulders.

"I wasn't aware fighting monsters was entertaining," Impa said, raising an eyebrow.

"It has its moments," Link said defensively.

Impa shook her head, and negated the barrier.

Impa went first, followed by Link, and Sheik. The room was empty. Link could see _really_ creepy things writhing along the walls, but he glanced at Impa. "The creature is not here…" she said, looking around the room, her eyes searching the ceiling.

"There," Sheik said, point to the floor. All Link saw was stone.

"Oh… I _see_," Impa breathed.

"It is an excellent veil," Sheik said, unnerved.

"I don't see anything," Link said flatly.

"There is a hole in the floor," Impa said.

"I'll be sure to stay away," Link said.

"No, we must go through, the creature is in the chamber below," Impa said, peering down at blank stone, as if she saw a bottomless pit.

"Are you sure?" Because that looks a lot like stone," Link said.

Impa crouched, and her fingers dipped through solid rock.

"Come, hero, I will cushion your fall," Impa said, holding out a hand.

"What are you going to—" Impa grabbed him in a bear hug, and dropped down through the whole.

Link yelped a word he would never use in front of Malon, his stomach clenching. He _hated_ falling. He didn't scream though. They hit something, and the floor sank, before throwing them about five feet in the air. The next bounce was half as high, etc. Link shook away from Impa, and Sheik landed nearby, sending them all tumbling and bouncing on the springy floor.

"What the hell is this?" Link demanded, carefully climbing to his feet.

"I do not know," Impa said, but she was looking up, behind Link. The hero turned, and in the semi-darkness, his eyes saw what hung from the ceiling. It looked to have been a man, perhaps, but if so, he possessed no legs. Instead, his thighs were melded together into a single, fleshy appendage, and joined to the ceiling at the knees, or something… because the appendage was loose, and flexible, more like a tentacle. The rest of the body hung down, and looked like a massive man, except the head was replaced by a giant glowing flower/eye of some kind, and the hands had been amputated…

"He doesn't look so tough," Link whispered. It was really _big_, but what exactly was he going to do without hands or teeth? _And_ it was rooted to the ceiling. He should have known better.

"Lookout!" Sheik yelled, slamming into Link, and sending them both bouncing and rolling across the floor. A massive, amputated hand smashed the place where Link had been standing moments before.

The monster's left arm had moved. It lifted up, and so did the hand, as if they were still connected.

"How—" Link started to ask, but it really didn't matter. This thing had hands… he pulled the bow off his back, glad he'd already strung it… but the monster was gone, except for the hands. _Invisible_. A hand swatted at Link, and he flattened himself.

Impa leapt onto the hand, stabbing the hooks of her swords in deep, for purchase,

"Link, shoot the heart!" Impa demanded, riding the hand, as it bucked, and wove. Sheik's chain wrapped around the thumb of the second hand, and she stabbed her tanto into it, climbing higher.

"What heart?" Link demanded.

"The glowing eye!" Sheik said, flinging herself to the opposite side of the hand as it tried to smash her against the floor, flinging Link into the air.

"I can't see it!" Link said, frustrated. He didn't even know where the thing was hanging.

"Just like the Deku tree," Navi said in his ear, drunkenly flying away, to hover near one wall. Link fired three arrows as fast as he could, and something screamed in pain… but it seemed outraged, rather than _wounded_.

"Drop!" Impa barked, and Link did, although the pinkie still hit his shoulder blades, send him tumbling helplessly across the damned floor, losing his bow along the way. Link shook his head, his ears ringing. He pulled out his sword, staggering to his feet. He'd _had_ it with these hands. Sheik's appendage whipped its way back towards Link, and he stepped aside, swinging his sword as hard as he could… and two fingers fell off in an explosion of blue/black blood. The monster took note, immediately, and did its best to squish him in the intervening minutes, as Link scrambled to survive.

_I am willing to assist, if you will allow it._ A snide, cold voice said in the back of Link's head.

_And will you go back into your hole when I tell you to? _Link thought sarcastically.

_If you ask politely_, the shadow replied.

_Will you stay there?_ Link pressed.

He felt a flash of irritation from the shadow.

_Yes._

_I'm open to __**suggestions **__only. _Link thought, emphatically.

Link's eyes burned, and suddenly, he saw a vague, shadowy mass near where Navi hovered.

_Stab it in the eye_, the shadow shrugged.

That was easier said than done, the 'eye' was hanging about fifteen feet off the ground. He didn't want to throw the Master sword… the arms were closer to the ground… but he'd need a much shorter blade to use for hand holds.

"Impa, I need your dagger!" Link shouted, as the sheikah elder flew by, still clinging to one of the hands. She released one of her embedded swords, and flicked the tanto from the back of her belt at him. It stabbed into the floor and quivered a few inches from his foot. A little _close_. He snatched the short blade, and sheathed the master sword. This wasn't going to be pleasant. He kicked off his boots, and ran.

"Sheik, dagger!" he called. Sheik lost her grip on the chain, and tumbled from the hand when he called… but the tanto was still in her fist. She slapped the weapon into his palm, and ran from the hand that hunted her, a chain still wrapped around its thumb.

"This is stupid," Link sighed, holding the tantos like ice picks, as he ran towards the partially invisible monster. One of its arms almost touched the floor as it slammed the hand controlled by that limb to the floor. Link ran right up the arm, reaching the elbow before the monster tried to shake him loose, and he pushed off, reaching its shoulder, and stabbed the daggers into the beast, securing his handholds, climbing higher, along its back. No matter how it contorted, it couldn't shake Link loose… it came close, numerous times, but never actually succeeded. Link grinned mirthlessly, descending the back of its neck, and he got cocky. The beast slapped at him with an arm, and Link let got, dropping several feet, his hands scrambling for another hold. He caught something organic and disturbingly rope-like, holding on for all he was worth. It was one of the tendril thingies that framed the eye. Link wrapped the tendril firmly around his right forearm, braced his feet, and whipped the Master sword out, stabbing into the glaring orange eye beneath his toes.

Zelda sat calmly at the long table, in what had once been her father's hall. Around them, dead creatures attended them, still dressed in the uniforms they had died wearing. Ganon sat at the head of the table, her father's place, sipping from a delicate silver goblet. He held out the chalice, and a ReDead steward shambled forward, clumsily pouring more wine. ReDeads in Hylian guard armor stood near the doors to the hall, looking as if only the spears they leaned upon held them up right. The smell was terrible.

She nibbled on the delicacies before her.

"Paxton?" she called, and the dead steward slowly looked at her.

"I would prefer water to wine," she said gently.

The tormented soul, trapped within rotting flesh slowly, painfully, bowed, and began the long, slow journey to the kitchen. She had recognized the steward's ring.

Ganon watched the exchange, much like a well-fed snake appraises a foolish mouse.

"Beautiful weather," he commented.

"Although somewhat oppressive," Zelda added.

"How so?" Ganon inquired.

They continued to play the game, because he wished it. He held a blade to her throat, but pretended that they were here by choice. It was a game, and he wished to be entertained by his newest toy. That he eventually intended to kill her did not much matter. He had tasted Power, and was not satisfied. They never were.

Paxton returned with a goblet and pitcher of water, looking fit to disintegrate. He placed the goblet on the table, and attempted to pour the water into the goblet. He failed, repeatedly, until Zelda helped support and guide the heavy pitcher. Her flesh crawled, from touching the cold, sticky hand, but she let none of it show on her face. She thanked the poor steward, who shuffled back to his station.

Ganon even let her finish her 'meal.' Then he raped her on the table of the great hall, before the dead creatures that had once been sworn to her father's service.

Link shuddered, staring at the black slime that covered him.

"Why isn't it bursting into blue fire?" He complained.

"Because it's not a curse," Impa said calmly.

"So, how do I get this stuff off?" Link asked.

Impa shook her head, and held up her hand, chanting softly. The black goop around their knees began to move and stir, flowing into Impa's hand… but it also seemed to be shrinking. Link felt the goo peel off his clothing and hands, slapping to the black sphere in Impa's hand.

"You made the Interloper sound like a force of nature. It smacked us around, and died after a couple pokes in the eye," Link said, patting himself down.

"Most of its energy was expended in its attempts to lift Ganon's curse… otherwise, we would not be having this conversation," Impa said calmly.

"What are you doing?" Link asked, eyeing the ball warily.

"Finishing what it began. The curse's weaves are in tatters, but still functional. I aim to change that," Impa said. She thrust her fist into the air, and a voice from the darkest depths of an unknown hell burst from her lips, assaulting the very _air_. The globe of shadow exploded from her fist.

Zelda stared up at the vaulted ceiling of the great hall. Ganon had destroyed yet another beautiful dress. For some reason, that annoyed her. Once again, he had left her to her own devices.

Footsteps shuffled closer, and the stench of rot assaulted her as Paxton stiffly removed his foul jacket, and gently draped it across her. She would have preferred to remain naked, if this was the only alternative, but she smiled woodenly at the dead creature, but could not yet speak yet. She suspected Ganon was using magic of some kind to shatter her composure.

The door to the hall opened, and the strangely familiar gerudo entered, wrinkling her nose at the jacket.

"Water and clothing have been left in your chambers," she said.

Zelda tried to speak, but all that came out was a strangled sob. She would try again later. The gerudo shook her head, "Can you walk?"

Zelda shook her head, still not trusting herself to speak.

Zelda expected the woman to simply leave her there. Instead, she felt the touch of magic, and she was carried aloft on a hammock of spirit magic.

The magic user conveyed her back to her chambers, and left her on the bed. Zelda cautiously sat up, and stared at the fetid jacket that lay across her legs, touching the faded heraldry.

"I can have it burned, if you wish," the gerudo said, standing as far from the jacket as possible.

"No. Paxton meant it kindly," Zelda said firmly.

"Who is Paxton?" the gerudo asked, puzzled.

"The steward. His name used to be Paxton," Zelda said sadly.

"How do you know?" the gerudo asked, curious. The faces were often the first to decay, becoming bloated, then withered nightmarish masks.

"He still wears his signet ring. I used to hide it from him, as a child," Zelda admitted wryly.

The gerudo began to turn, and Zelda realized where she had seen the woman before.

"You were part of the delegation. _Narosha_, I believe…" Zelda said suddenly.

"That was the name you knew me by," the gerudo admitted.

"Ah… I see," Zelda said, realizing the woman (then a girl) had been sent to spy upon her.

Zelda shakily stood, moving to her writing bureau, and pulled a drawer out.

"What are you doing?" the woman asked, wary. Zelda found that if she did not acknowledge her nakedness, then it was as if she still wore clothing. It was a thin deception of the self… but effective.

"I have something for you…" Zelda said, rummaging through the hiding place.

"What?" the gerudo asked cautiously.

"I meant to give it to you, but… _events _transpired to thwart me," Zelda chuckled sickly. She pulled the small porcelain doll from the compartment, and blew the dust away. She held it out to _Narosha_.

"You… you repaired it," the gerudo said, taken aback.

"I promised I would," Zelda told her, gently depositing the toy in Narosha's cupped hands.

"I let you break it on purpose," Narosha admitted.

"I think you give yourself too much credit," Zelda smirked slightly.

The princess had snuck out of the castle, in her servant disguise. Impa had followed her discretely no doubt, when she went to visit the marketplace. Zelda had been distracted, and hadn't seen the other, equally distracted girl until they collided. In the process, the doll in the young Gerudo's hand had flown free, and broken upon the cobble stones.

Zelda recognized it now as a ploy to initiate contact between them, discretely, of course.

"Where _did_ you get the doll?" Zelda asked, curious.

"My father bought it from a vendor, and gave it to me, when he recognized you," Narosha said.

"I felt your loss though. If you only held it for a few moments... why did it upset you so?" Zelda asked, confused.

Nabooru's face hardened, "If there is anything else you require, ask it now," she said harshly. But she did slip the doll into her tunic.

"If so, I will tell you the next time you bring a bucket and a dress," Zelda said mirthlessly. Narosha nodded stiffly, and left.

Link was having a rather pleasant dream. In it, Malon was stroking his cheeks, and whispering—

"Wake up, hero," an exasperated voice demanded. Link opened his eyes, his face stinging.

"You slapped me?" he slurred, wounded.

"After you kissed me? Yes I did," Sheik said flatly.

"I did what?" he asked, mortified.

"Those were my thoughts as well. Then I slapped you," Sheik replied.

"It took you several seconds to do so," Impa observed pointedly, arching an eyebrow at the younger shadow-warrior.

Link looked between them, "You're making this up," he said. It was more plausible than their explanation.

Sheik shrugged, "Believe what you wish," she said.

"Reality is pain," Link agreed, gingerly touching the hand-shaped blotch of _reality_ on the side of his face. Surely she hadn't had to hit him _that_ hard.

"It will please you to know that the Shadow temple was successfully cleansed," Impa informed him. She pulled a purpled metal disk from a chain around her neck. She held it in her hand, tilting it, as if inspecting it, before turning and passing it to Sheik. The young warrior fumbled the medallion before her hands began to tremble, and shadows writhed from the disk, entwining around her arms.

"Congratulations. You are Sheik, Sage of Shadows," Impa said with a shrug.

"Excellent. How do we leave?" Navi asked, staring at the hole fifty feet above them.

Sheik teleported them to the entrance of the temple, and seemed surprised that she had succeeded… which made Link nervous, after the fact.

"Don't forget the scroll," Navi reminded him.

He had forgotten. Link pulled the sealed roll from his pouch, and broke the wax, unrolling it. Navi landed on the paper, and walked along, reading.

"What does it say?" Link asked.

"The princess had a prophesy of some kind… we have to get something from the Gerudo desert… and the princess left clues and instructions," Navi said, confused.

"You don't sound certain," Link said, worried.

"Well, this is written in ancient Hylian… and it's in rhyme."

"That sounds like the princess," Impa agreed dourly.


	13. Chapter 13 Wings of the Storm

"No. I won't do it," Malon said, staring at the faerie… and Link… and the three sheikah… and the wytch… and the knight who was missing the fingers of his sword hand. They were all staring at her, with varying degrees of confidence that she _would_ change her mind.

"The princess foresaw your role in this," the knight growled, stabbing his finger at the scroll Link held.

"Link can't _read_," Malon protested.

"You can't read?" Sheik asked, surprised.

Link shook his head.

"Of course not, but _I can_," Navi snarled.

Link crossed his arms, "Why _are_ you all here?" Link asked pointedly. This conversation had started with just Navi, Malon, and himself. Reluctantly, the group dissolved, and scattered.

"I'm sorry," Link said, "I forgot how… attentive… some ears in this camp are."

"They're the ultimate spies. It's kind of hard to keep secrets from them," Malon said, her pale cheeks still scarlet.

Link slowly smiled, "Actually…" he held a hand out to her, "I do have a more private location for this conversation."

He seemed very pleased with himself. That was usually a bad sign, or at least a warning that he was about to do something 'clever.'

"What…" she asked cautiously.

"Will you come?" he asked.

"Fine…" she sighed. Link took her hand, and Navi landed on his shoulder, he winked… and the world jerked out from under them. Green light swirled around them, but they didn't move. Link was still in mid-wink… and then he finished as the green light abruptly vanished. Malon thought she heard music.

"What… what was that?" Malon gasped, clinging to his arm for balance.

"Teleport. Kind of," Link said, kissing her forehead.

"Some warning would have been nice," she said, flustered. She looked around seeing trees in the distance, but they were surrounded by an ocean of tall grass, "Where are we?"

"About twenty miles from camp," he said.

"Without horses?" Malon growled.

"We can get back the same way. I left an anchor where I was standing," Link grinned.

She didn't know what an anchor had to do with it, but he sounded like he had a plan.

"Now, can you explain the real reason you don't want to do this?" Link asked, searching her eyes. She should have looked away. She knew how hard it was to tell him _no_ if she made eye contact.

"Damn you," she said, but there was no heat to it.

"If that's where you'll be," he smiled, tugging her down to sit in the grass with him.

She pillowed her head on his chest with some force, causing a startled grunt. He deserved that though.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Malon asked, staring at the blue sky.

"Because whatever it was hurt you. That makes it very high on my priority of things to maim, torture, or kill," Link told her lightly, running his fingers gently through her hair.

She looked at him, "Why? Why am I so special?" she asked. It had always bothered her. She had been cute when she was younger, but after the gerudo, she had become lethal, not beautiful.

For a long time, Link stared at the sky, looking as if he were on the verge of saying something… but not knowing how.

"Because… I was… alone," he said quietly. She could hear the unfinished explanation in his voice, so she rolled over, cushioning her chin on her arm as she waited, watching him.

"I thought there was something wrong with me. There was a hole, right here," Link said softly, gently moving her hand over his sternum, and holding it there.

"I didn't know what it was. I trained harder than my friends, trying to distract myself, trying to forget, but every time I fell asleep, it just came back. Eventually, I resigned myself to the hurt, and tried to ignore it. Then I saw a silly outsider. She wasn't afraid to take risks, to dream of what _could_ be, instead of worrying about what was,"

Malon knew he was talking about her, but she didn't believe him. Not about _her_.

"At first, you scared me," Link chuckled.

"You're lying," Malon said softly.

"No…" Link said, tracing one of her eyebrows with his thumb gently, "I had become so used to ignoring the hole, that I didn't notice when it was missing. I knew you had done something to me, but I didn't know what…" Link said.

"You were strange, and different from everyone I had ever known. When I kissed you the first time, I realized what you'd done to me," Link whispered.

_Don't say it. Please don't. If you say it you don't mean it_, Malon thought desperately. Please let him be different from her other barnyard crushes.

"You filled this place, right here, where the pain was, and then, you made the hole bigger, and sharper," Link said sadly.

"What?" Malon said, startled. This was not the direction she had anticipated. She was waiting for this "too good to be true" thing to end… with either sex, and then tears, or tears, followed by more tears. She hadn't thought she'd be the _cause_ of the tears.

"I was a kokiri. I would always be a child, and you would grow up, move on… forget about me. Immortality is _very_ lonely," Link admitted. Now Malon felt like _she_ was going to cry, as the magnitude of what Link was saying hit her.

That was so… _sad_.

"But the story gets better," Link said gently tugging her higher, so he could whisper in her ear. She felt a momentary pang of apprehension, realizing how much stronger he was than she.

"It has a happy ending, the one I thought I'd never get," Link said, his breath filling her nose.

"Just you," he smiled, and she thought she was crying… until she realized the hot tear against her cheek wasn't hers.

Malon could feel his heartbeat against the palm of her hand, even through his chainmail.

"Now, what hurt you, and how can I make it better?" Link asked gently.

Malon laughed darkly.

"The gerudo," she said.

"Ah… genocide might be somewhat outside my capabilities, but I will do my best," Link said, with a considering look in his eyes.

"When they took over the ranch, I was their _favorite_. They did their damndest to make me into one of _them_. They thought whips were the best way to do that," Malon said darkly.

"This plan... I fought those bitches for five _years_, to keep from becoming their pet gerudo. I never broke. Not completely," Malon admitted.

"Malon… I need you for this. Not like before. That was because I was afraid I'd lose you, if you left my sight again. This is different. I will be captured, without you, I don't know the language, I'll just be another male slave. I need you, to protect me," Link said, appreciating the irony of that statement.

"But… what if she can't undo it?" Malon asked. The wytch claimed she could alter Malon's eye and skin color, to match those of the desert tribe.

"If a wytch can't do it, doesn't mean my _mother_ can't," Link told her.

"Link, do you love me?" she asked tiredly, not looking at him. If he said yes, he was lying, and she would tell him _no_. Several emotions flickered across the ex-kokiri's face.

"I don't really know what that is," Link finally admitted, "But I think I could learn."

Damn him.

"I'll do it," she sighed.

"Before we go back, since we do have this privacy…" Link said.

Here it was.

"You get embarrassed when I kiss you when other people can see. Would it upset you here?" Link asked. She didn't dignify that with an answer, but Link had no objections to her reply. None _whatsoever_.

Sheik was waiting for them when they returned, in another burst of green light.

"I'll do it," Malon said, annoyed. Sheik led the girl to the wytch, unsurprised in her change of heart. While they did that, Link went hunting through the camp for some of the things _he_ would need, to disguise the hilt and scabbard of the master sword… as well as a change of clothes.

Sejuno was sharpening her scimitar when the demon came to her. She tested the sharpness, before sliding the weapon back into its leather sheathe. "I have a mission for you," Lito said, making her jump. Sejuno tilted her head, waiting.

With the dawn, three gerudo and a man rode from the camp, headed west. They would cut across the heartland of Hyrule, staying at the gerudo camps, to test their cover.

Link glanced at Malon again, whom he rode beside. She did look like a gerudo now. Malka had given her the same dark olive complexion of the gerudo, but it was still startling to see her glance at him, and instead of vibrant blue eyes, to see cool gold.

To be fair, he didn't look like himself either. Malka had darkened his skin, as if he had spent much of his life under the sun, and turned his blonde hair black. He wore gerudo style garb, and the master sword now looked like nothing more that a simple soldier's weapon. As long as it stayed in the scabbard, no one would be able to tell it was magical, not even magic users… this was the reason why he now carried a knife and a common short sword on his hip. The most surprising of Zelda's instructions involved the two women riding behind them. Zelda had insisted that their involvement was essential to the success of the mission… whatever it was. The male sheikah had also promised their loyalty, via magical means. Link still hated one of them. When they reached the gerudo camp, they were challenged, and Malon shouted back to them. Navi, hiding in Link's hood, hastily translated for him, but it was a simple halt and identify type exchange. Malon's gerudo name was also somewhat tongue in cheek. She had reversed her name to Nalom, then added –ar to the end: Nalomar. Inside the walls, they were looked at with curiosity, but apparently, they did nothing blatantly _non-gerudo_, because they were allowed to move about the camp unmolested. Well, everyone but Link. Two women approached Malon, and the gist revolved around trading a mare for Link, or rather _Kiln_. He was _mute_, according to _Nalomar_. Being mute was actually very helpful, he didn't have to answer questions directed at him.

Link set up the two tents in their allotted section of the camp, next to the tethered horses. Whatever the shadow temple had done to him was still active, but had faded somewhat. Instead of night looking like day, his night vision had simply become much keener… but he could still tell when it was dark.

Zelda was led to the throne room to _attend_ Ganon. He sat in her father's throne, staring at a magical globe of some kind.

"Do approach, princess," he bade her, not taking his eyes from the pulsating sphere in his hand.

Zelda lifted the hem of her skirts, and climbed the steps, to sit in the chair that her mother had once occupied.

"Would you like to see your army?" Ganon asked, off-hand. Without waiting for her to answer, he tossed the globe out into the center of the throne room, and it expanded violently. Now Zelda could see what Ganon had been watching. A mixed force of moblins, bokoblins, and lizafoes were attacking a village. They outnumbered the defenders four to one, but the village's wooden palisade wall had not been breached. _Yet._

"They oppose my justice," Ganon said, bemused.

"I was not aware such a thing possible," Zelda said demurely.

"The peasants may try, but they will fail," Ganon grunted.

"Forgive me, but you mistake my words," Zelda said.

"Oh?"

"For one to oppose justice, there must be justice to oppose. You are a murdering monster, it is only natural that your toys will oppose their ill use," Zelda shrugged calmly.

Ganon seemed amused by the description.

"It has been years since anyone was spoken to me… frankly. I had forgotten how refreshingly… _irritating _it was."

"My host, perhaps you should return your gaze to the battle," Zelda suggested.

Ganon frowned, and looked back to the orb. His monsters were being attacked from the rear by a ragged band of hylians wearing a motley assortment of leather, chainmail, or padded cloth. Their weapons, however, were far more professional.

Among them, one figure walked, unarmed, tearing monsters limb from limb, like a god. She recognized Aris, the sheikah who never spoke (Understandable, since she had no tongue). The monsters were trapped between the hylians, and the walls of the palisade, where the villagers continued to rain punishment down upon them. Ganon scattered the projection angrily.

"I assume that you will proceed to rape me now. In the interest of expediting this rather onerous chore I suggest you use the simple fasteners of this garment, instead of destroying yet_ another_ dress," Zelda said calmly. His eyes promised her imminent pain, but he only had power over her if she feared him. So, she sighed,

"Very well, if the fasteners are too difficult a concept to manage," she began to unlace the dress herself. Ganon didn't let her finish.

Nikaru sat on watch. A few feet from her, the man she had rightfully captured slept beside a scrawny girl that _pretended _to be gerudo. Her sisters thought them to be poor, since they possessed only a single man, which they assumed was shared amongst them. To be bound to a shadow-demon's will… it burned at Nikaru, and a man no less.

To her disgust, she did not think Sejuno minded their predicament. To be so close to a man that would have given her daughters worthy of song… and a sword of legend.

It made Nikaru furious, and filled her with anguish at the same time. To have come so close to greatness…

In the morning, since Link had taken the last watch, he was already up, and saddling the horses while the women slept. They would eat breakfast in the saddle.

While he worked, he realized he was drawing attention, and didn't know why.

When Malon rose, she scolded him, and Navi translated. Apparently, he hadn't connected the correct straps.

He hung his head, and Malon shook her head, and sent him to break down the tents. He knew how to do _that_. There was a commotion starting near the gate, and Link looked up, drawn by the raised voices. A band of moblins were forcing their way to the front of the food line. One young gerudo and a hylian slave (who looked a little younger than Link), near the front of the line, refused to move. The moblins pushed the woman, and the slave went attacked the burly monsters… with a _knife_.

Link vaulted the half-collapsed tent, and wove through the crowd. He didn't give a toss for the gerudo, but the kid was going to get himself killed. The moblins had him pinned to the wooden wall, and were arguing over how to kill him. Link's short sword cut a hamstring, and the moblin holding the slave collapsed, howling. Link caught the young man by the collar of his shirt, and hurled him aside into a pile of tents, getting him away from the coming fight.

The other three moblins, each nearly two feet taller than Link, turned and their little piggy eyes narrowed.

"Don't talk!" Navi reminded him. Link grinned at them, showing his teeth, and waited.

"He has forced your hand," Sejuno whispered quickly, "The others believe he has done this at your behest. Go and support him, now."

Malon walked over to where Link was standing, eyeing the moblins. The rest of the gerudo were watching her intently. She passed where Link had thrown the young idiot, and pulled him up by his ear, and pushed him towards where the girl he'd defended stood, without looking.

She stopped next to Link, and looked up at the moblins, "I dislike your smell, and you have forgotten your place," she said, in the desert tongue.

Apparently, the moblins understood her, because they squealed angrily.

She looked at Link, "Kill them," and began to walk away. Behind her, she heard meat and steel connecting, as well as the squeals and thuds of bodies hitting the ground.

She pretended to not care, but her heart was hammering in her ears. Was he alright? It sounded like he'd gotten hurt, at least a _little_.

She could see the gerudo looking at her, and their whispers sounded impressed, before looking back at the fight. Finally, Malon couldn't take it any more, and turned.

Three moblins were writhing on the ground, with cuts to major muscle groups crippling them. The last warrior proved more capable than his comrades, and Link had a few cuts to show for it… but even as they circled, the moblin made a mistake, and then he was dead. Link calmly walked among the crippled moblins, dispatching them with precise slashes. He wiped his blade on the last moblin, sheathed his sword, and walked over to where she stood calmly.

Malon patted his cheek, like one might a dog, and returned to where she was fixing the saddles.

"That was brave of you," Sejuno said quietly, "Few would aid a clan-less against the moblins, and even fewer over a clan-less's slave."

"Clan-less?" Malon asked.

"It's why she is so thin. She has not eaten well, the same for her slave," Nikaru said harshly. Malon heard the judgment in the woman's voice of her own figure, and glared.

Link watched the women bicker, and finished breaking down the tents, folding them down, and storing the light canvas into the saddle bags. He bundled the short tent poles, and divided them among the four horses. He was the first to notice the two teens approaching them. He tapped Malon on the shoulder, and pointed.

"What is she doing?" Malon whispered.

"We are a small clan, but even the slave has a horse, and we are well armed. This means we are successful, and you showed interest in her by sending your slave to protect hers," Sejuno explained quickly.

"So what does she want?" Malon asked.

"I believe to petition you to join our clan. She risks your wrath to do so, but I doubt she has much choice," Sejuno shrugged.

Malon watched the girl approach, and realized _girl_ was right. She looked almost as young as the one Link had taken to his mother. The girl bowed low, and did not rise,

"I am Taraya, and clanless. I ask to join your clan. I will serve faithfully. Your hunt will become my hunt, your enemy will be my enemy, my hand will be your hand," the girl promised.

"I am Nolamar, of no-clan. Do you still wish to join us?" Malon asked. They were posing as a mercenary band, not as a true-clan.

As Sejuno had explained, mercenary bands were common collections of young women that banded together not to fight for money, but rather, to hunt for glory and men. As such, they owed no allegiance or fealty to any of the clans, and during their hunt, they were considered no-clan… which was different from clan-less.

Clan-less were outcasts, no-clan were simply non-aligned.

"I would be honored," the girl said in relief.

"Gather your belongings, we ride with the sun," Malon said.

"I am ready now," the girl said. She carried a bola of stone and leather on her belt, as well as a javelin on her back. The slave had recovered his knife.

"You have a slave, but no horse?" Sejuno asked, curious.

The girl blushed, "He is deaf, and his eyes are weak," she admitted.

"Ah… and mine is mute," Malon grinned as she looked at Link.

"Kiln. Ride with me," she said. Link nodded.

"You shouldn't provoke him," a voice told her. Zelda cracked one eye, and saw Narosha standing at the foot of the bed. "I feel… fine," Zelda said, surprised.

"I had to heal you, after my master finished with you," Narosha said.

Zelda touched her left breast, and found it as she remembered it, and not crushed. That had hurt. "Thank you," Zelda said quietly.

"Why do you provoke him?" Narosha asked.

"He plays games of power, control, domination. When I provoke him, he loses the control over me he desires," Zelda said.

"You aren't brave, trying to force him to kill you. You are foolish," Narosha said.

"Ganon is addicted to power. He won't kill me, he doesn't have the Triforce of Courage, to complete the Triforce. Once he has that, I will die regardless," Zelda shrugged.

"He was not always this way," Narosha said quietly.

"Few men are born monsters. That takes time," Zelda agreed gently.

"Our people were dying," Narosha said, "We came to your king for aid. We were turned away… so my father turned to his magic, to save us. He took the land we needed to survive from your selfish race. We refused to starve in the desert, and that makes us evil?" Narosha demanded.

"No," Zelda said softly, and held up her hand. A bubble of displaced air shimmered, and from it, came the sounds of children screaming in terror.

"This is what separates you from monsters. Does this sound sicken you?"

Narosha turned away, "I was there when your father attacked Kakariko village. My attendant hid me, with three other sheikah children from Ganon. The rest were captured, and he killed them slowly, one by one. We could hear their screams from where Impa hid with us. Men, women, children… we saw what he and his monsters did to our friends and families. How did that feed your people?" Zelda demanded, blinking away tears, clutching her hand into a fist, to cut off the sounds that haunted her dreams.

"They were dangerous killers, demons," Narosha protested.

Zelda laughed harshly, "They say the same of you, after that day."

Narosha turned, and walked towards the door.

"Wait, Narosha, please," Zelda said, and the woman hesitated at the door.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," Zelda said quietly, holding her head.

"My father tortures you, and you still cling to your civility?" Narosha observed bemusedly.

"Will being rude or vile help me in any way?" Zelda enquired.

"Not to my knowledge."

"Then I will continue to do as I believe is right," Zelda shrugged.

Narosha wrinkled her nose, "What is that smell?" She followed the trail to its source… a bucket with something soaking in it.

"I was attempting to wash Paxton's jacket, to return to him… but it seems to have overwhelmed the water," Zelda admitted sheepishly.

When Zelda woke in the morning, someone had left three buckets of water inside the door.

Malon didn't know how she felt about the additional members to their group, but Sejuno pointed out that it further swelled their numbers, and made them less noticeable. They were within two days ride of the edge of the grasslands, and the path through the mountains that would lead to the land of the Gerudo. Link had no objections to riding behind Malon, although the saddle wasn't quite long enough to do so comfortably. They stopped at midday, to answer nature's call, and to have a quick meal. Link stretched his legs, doing some quick and (quite scanty) foraging. Then they were riding again. They reached the next gerudo camp, a half hour before sunset. This camp had far fewer Gerudo than the last, apparently only three bands at the moment, less than forty warriors. They were on their way _into_ Hyrule, at the very beginning of their hunts.

In other words, they were loud, boisterous, and cocky. This was their big chance to get ahead. Even the older warriors had high spirits. Malon and her group staked the horses in one corner of the camp, away from the fires and the drinking.

Link stretched, grateful to be on foot at last.

"Get some food," Malon told Link, handing him the bracer of rabbits she'd bagged along the way.

Link took the rope, and carried it to the communal cooking area the gerudo favored. For a nomadic culture, it was very simple.

You took what you foraged along your route, and when you made camp, the portion size you contributed to the communal 'pot' was the size that you were allowed to take out. It was all very organized, and strangely, no one tried to cheat the other on portion sizes. They'd steal the boots off your feet for the hell of it, but taking more than their share was something they just couldn't do.

Link handed the rabbits to the cooks, who sized them up, and said something, that Navi translated as _five bowls._ Link nodded, accepting the stack of wooden bowls handed to him. When the meal was ready, they would return with the empty bowls, to be filled.

It was simple, and surprisingly honest.

There were, however, six in the group. The slave might have weak vision, but he could still count. He was the least among the group, and no doubt he would be the one to go hungry. Link could see it in his eyes. The slave was bonier than the girl he sat beside.

Link handed out the bowls, and held the last one out to the slave firmly. The scrawny man slowly took the bowl. He seemed overwhelmed. Surprised was not strong enough a word. _Moved_, that was it, Link realized, the slave looked _moved_ by his gesture. Link pulled the burlap bag from Epona's saddle, and rooted around in the basic greens and roughage he'd scrounged. He still hadn't gotten over his aversion to meat. He'd probably have to work on that… just not tonight.

Malon watched the newest member of the group discretely from the corner of her eye. She was watching Link.

"Where did you capture your slave from?" Taraya asked.

"In the grasslands," Malon said softly.

"How?" Taraya asked, interested.

"The how was simple. He was already injured," Malon grinned.

Taraya smiled hesitantly, "Was he a soldier?"

Malon gestured for Taraya to come closer, and whispered in her ear, "He was a knight."

Taraya's eyes widened, and she looked at Malon, impressed.

Nikaru abruptly rose, and stalked away stiffly, but Taraya didn't notice.

"If it would not be an insult… could he train my slave?" she asked nervously.

Malon looked at the girl, curious, "How did you come to have him?"

It looked like the girl wished Malon hadn't asked… but didn't look like she was going to lie to save face. She was too worried about remaining part of their 'no-clan.'

"A few months ago, I was part of a large band from Friilun clan. We attacked an armed hylian settlement. It had already been attacked by a moblin raiding party, so there were few men to be had. My horse broke its leg through my own stupidity. The only one left was him," Taraya jerked her chin at the deaf slave.

"What of their women? Children?" Malon asked.

Taraya shrugged, "I do not know."

It began to make sense though. Taraya had tried to make her fortune, lost her horse, and gained a 'worthless' slave.

"Kiln," Malon said, and Link looked up from his forage.

"Teach the boy how to fight," she said. It was nice ordering him around. She saw a shadow of amusement in Link's eyes.

Link set the sack aside, and waved for the slave to come closer. Nervously, the smaller man approached. Link took two bamboo tent poles from the nearby saddles, and tossed one to the slave. The poles were only about three feet long, and impossibly sturdy. There was little chance of breaking them. The slave almost missed the catch, squinting. This would be… interesting, Link thought glumly.

When Zelda entered the dinner hall, she saw Paxton, still missing his uniform jacket, and handed it to the dead servant, "I thank you for the use of your jacket," Zelda said kindly. The rotting limbs had difficulty putting the clean (mostly) garment back on, but managed. Zelda took her place at the table, flinching a little from how cold the glossy wood was against her skin.

"You dinner wear is rather… abbreviated," Ganon noted idly, swirling the wine in his chalice absently.

"I did not wish to impose upon your hospitality, by destroying my wardrobe on a nightly basis," Zelda said, picking at the food placed before her.

Ganon shrugged, and regarded the wine.

"It is no inconvenience. There seems to be an abundance of noble clothing suited for your figure within this castle," he said off-hand.

"You are too kind," Zelda said politely.

To her surprise, the dark lord did not rape her at all. In fact, they had a rather frigid (she never realized just how _cold_ the castle was) dinner, of polite, and inane talk. She was led back to her room.

"You are unbelievable," Narosha said in disbelief.

"It worked, didn't it?" Zelda chuckled, pulling on some clothing, to ward off the cold.

"No, it did not. He will simply find some other way to torment you, now that you do not fear nakedness, or rape. He _always_ finds another way," Narosha said sadly.

"Narosha… may I ask you a question?" Zelda asked.

"I have no pressing duties at the moment," Narosha shrugged.

"As a child, did you ever have any friends?"

"A man is only born within our tribe _once_ in a hundred years. When that happens, we follow him, wherever he will lead us. I was the child of our man. I didn't have time for friends," Narosha said.

"I understand," Zelda said, and Narosha knew she did.

The princess stood, and walked to her window, staring at the narrow slice of black sky she could see.

"Thank you for being my friend," Zelda said.

Link was startled by the change in climate. The eastern side of the mountain range had been somewhat cool… but the western side… Link was glad of the goron ring beneath his hand wraps. _Very_ glad.

"We enter now the great sea," Sejuno told Malon quietly, "Our journey will take perhaps seven days, barring disaster…"

Malon was apprehensive, but also curious. She had heard stories over and _over_, the gerudo guards at the ranch complaining about how this or that was not like their homeland…

True to Sejuno's prediction, the journey from the western mountains of Hyrule, to the gerudo heartlands lasted only nine days, though they had to stop for nearly two whole days when a sandstorm came upon them. Link was _still_ getting sand out of impossible places. If anything, the end of their journey was met with relief, and sore thighs.

"This, for lack of a better word, is our capital," Sejuno said, nodding towards the sprawling fortress, built into the cliff face. Zelda's scroll said, after Navi translated the text, and puzzled out the meanings of the rhymes:

_Go to the Desert Colossus._

_There you will find the key to destroying Ganon, seven years in the past._

_Use the song I taught you, for it is the Ocarina of Time in truth, not only in name._

_You will need to bring Malon with you, disguised as a Gerudo, as well as the two prisoners she captured._

_You must not be discovered, and do not draw the master sword until secrecy is no issue. _

_The key to locating the Colossus lies with the ghost of the first Spirit Sage._

_She haunts the Gerudo capital for those with eyes to see._

The guards challenged them, but it seemed more a custom than an actual query, and the infiltrators passed without incident. They moved through an open market, bursting with activity. The highlight, was a bartering auction, which took up the center of the plaza, and Link saw men among the goods being haggled over.

They found a place, outside the walls, to pitch camp, among the hundreds of other Gerudo. Then one of them took note of Link, and barred their path.

"How much for the slave?" The woman asked, leaning on her massive axe. She was an Iron Knuckle; magically augmented with strength beyond her means, and equipped with heavy metal armor.

"He is not for sale," Malon said calmly.

"I am Setsu, of Clan Hirosh, _no-clan_. I will ask again. What do you want for your slave?"

"There is no threat you can make, or reward you can promise to make me give you my slave," Malon said, ice entering her voice.

"Very well, no-clan. I will remember you, when we meet again," the Iron Knuckle promised coldly, fondling her axe.

"You are mad to oppose the Hirosh clan," Sejuno said, "They hold half the city."

"Then we will avoid that half," Malon said wryly.

"Madness," Sejuno muttered, shaking her head.

Link stood vigil at the camp that night, keeping an eye on the nearby gerudo. So much so, that he nearly missed the ghost that stood beside him. At first, he thought she was alive… until he noticed that her feet did not rest upon the sand. Her eyes were intensely sad, and filled with guilt.

"Are you the Spirit Sage?" Link whispered. The hooded woman nodded slowly.

"Can you lead me to the Desert Colossus?" Link asked.

Wordlessly, the ghost turned, and floated towards the walls of the stone fortress. They wove through the quiet streets of sandstone, climbing higher and higher, with each sequential level. Guards slept at their posts, leaving the checkpoint gates unbarred. Link began to suspect the ghost was responsible. Finally, they entered an ornate gate, set directly into the cliff face, at the highest point of the fortified city. The mountain climbed still higher. Within the dark tunnel, Link had difficulty seeing, but was not blind. He followed his guide silently.

The walls were covered with murals, depicting scenes from the Gerudo's past. Link couldn't tell what was happening in most of them, and he did not feel the need to stop. Finally, the tunnel opened up into a massive chamber, which could have swallowed the _Great Deku Tree_ whole. At its center, a massive stone woman sat, cross-legged. She sat as tall as the Deku tree, in fact. Moonlight, intensified somehow, to almost the same brightness as the sun shined down upon her coldly. The ghost led him forward, to the base of the statue, and pointed mutely at a shattered rectangle of stone.

"_Go to the Desert Colossus._

_There you will find the key to destroying Ganon, seven years in the past._

_Use the song I taught you, for it is the Ocarina of Time in truth, not only in name._

_You will need to bring Malon with you, disguised as a Gerudo, as well as the two prisoners she captured._

_You must not be discovered, and do not draw the master sword until secrecy is no issue. _

_The key to locating the Colossus lies with the ghost of the first Spirit Sage._

_She haunts the Gerudo capital for those with eyes to see."_

Navi recited. Link pulled the Ocarina of Time from the pouch on his belt and played the Song of Time. The long, mournful melody filled the chamber, and Link saw the world burn with blue-white light around him. When he blinked, the light had vanished… but things had changed.

He stood, presumably, seven years in the past. He touched the master sword on his back, and looked around. The stone rectangle was whole once more, and now, Link could see that there were two holes in the stone.

Navi flitted over the inscriptions, translating for several long seconds.

"The treasure lies within?" Navi said, confused. She hovered some more, arguing quietly with herself, but with a shake of her blue hair, she returned to Link's shoulder, "Apparently, the treasures are within the holes?"

"If something bites me, I'll never forgive you," Link mumbled. The colossus had a cobra hood… and he didn't like the implication of snakes, when he was reaching into dark places he couldn't see. Something grabbed onto his arms, and began to squeeze.

Link yelped, but couldn't pull free. The pressure increased until it became painful, and the stone splintered around his arms, which he'd plunged to the elbows in the holes. Link coughed, blinking away the stone dust.

His hand wraps were gone, replaced by leather gloves that extended from his knuckles to a few inches shy of his elbows. Overlapping plates of disjointed moonlight covered the gloves, and after a moment, Link realized it wasn't moonlight manifest, but rather, the plates were like mirrors, except for a strange wedge of ruby on the backs of the hands. They were beautiful.

"And somehow these are going to destroy Ganon," Link said, bemusedly.

Stone grated on stone, and a shadow fell over the altar. Link's head snapped up. The damned statue was moving. Her lips moved, and a language Link didn't understand spilled forth. Navi clung to his earlobe, and shouted the translation, struggling to be heard over the almost deafening speech:

"_Key kept in trust, immune to rust, turn back the lock, remake the rock.'_

'_Shifting sands, unmoving hands, timeless vigil, recent sigil,'_

'_Power of silver, in darkest night, long since lost, found by true light.'_

'_Hero now, hero then, return once more and begin,'_

'_**Destroy their blight, restore their sight, ensure they'll fight"**_

"What the hell does that mean?" Link demanded, the voice growing louder.

The stone statue slowly returned to its original posture, and went still.

Link stared up at the really creepy statue… but no further cryptic declarations shook dust from the ceiling.

"I don't know…" Navi said tugging at her hair nervously.

"If this doesn't work, we'll have seven years to find out," Link said darkly, pulling out the Ocarina of Time.

"Where is he?" Malon demanded. Taraya trembled, "I thought I saw your slave enter the city," she said.

"I never thought he would run from you," the girl wailed.

"He didn't run," Malon sighed, and took off at a dead sprint. It was the middle of the night. Surely someone had seen him… but considering his _popularity_, she hoped he hadn't been.

As soon as she passed the pitted stone archway into the city, scoured by countless sandstorms, she realized just how impossible the task before her was. She should stay here, and wait for him to come out. If he was in trouble, he'd be able to get out of it, runaway, or it was so bad she wouldn't be able to help much anyway.

That kept her still for roughly five seconds. Especially when she realized there were two armed women at her back, looking ready to kill anyone who tried to touch her.

"We are wasting time," Sejuno said coolly. Taraya nodded guiltily.

Malon smirked, and began walking. She started humming. If Link's fiendishly keen kokiri ears were within seventy meters, he'd hear her and coming running.

Then she was going to murder him for giving her a heart attack.

They walked through the narrow, winding streets for almost an hour. Then someone whistled back the tune Malon was humming.

"You are in _big _trouble, Kiln," Malon growled.

Someone dropped from a nearby flat-top roof, catching themselves in a roll, and hastily stood.

"I believe you are _all_ in trouble," a voice said, amused. Malon turned, and saw a very large, familiar shape in the dark… and the silhouette of a battle axe…

Malon saw that the woman had brought friends…

This was bad.

Malon was surprised that the Iron Knuckle didn't try to kill them. She didn't even disarm them. Instead, she forced them to march through the city, towards the central keep. Link's hands didn't stray far from the hilts of his weapons.

The escort led the group through the dimly lit halls of the keep, decorated with the occasional bleached skull… which seemed, in Malon's opinion, a rather forced attempt to instill fear in victims. They reached the… well, Malon assumed it was a throne room.

The Iron knuckle bowed before the wizened crone, who sat upon the chair.

"My lord, we have brought you the slave you requested."

The hag didn't rise, but her greedy, bloodshot eyes stared at Link, or rather, the pouch on his belt which held the Ocarina of Time.

She spoke, her voice like dead leather, and Navi translated,

"You carry a bauble that I desire. Give it to me," she demanded.

Link shook his head, and covered the treasure with his hand, firmly.

"It is not for him to give," Malon said flatly.

The wizened hag quivered, and pointed angrily at Link. One of the Iron Knuckles reached out, and slapped him, knocking him to the ground.

"I will not suffer _insolence_," the witch snarled, before she began to hack and cough.

Link climbed to his feet, and he looked ready to kill. The Iron knuckles saw this, and raised their axes eagerly. He hated everything about the old bitch. She had the smell of unnatural magic to her, and looked as if only malice kept her from dying outright.

Something flickered in his eyes, and suddenly, Link could perceive the magical auras of the room.

_Ah… you see so little_, a voice chuckled in the back of Link's mind,

_Is it not obvious what was done here? It is brilliant in its simplicity_. Then the shadow fell into smug silence.

Magic was flowing _into_ the witch, and diffusing throughout her body… but Link couldn't see where exactly it came from. It was a lot, however.

"Answer me!" the witch demanded. Link hadn't been listening.

"He is mute," Malon said.

"You will not speak unless spoken to, and in a respectful tone," the witch said dangerously, raising her staff. Link stepped in front of Malon, and bared his teeth at the bitch. She wouldn't risk damaging the Ocarina.

"Respect must be earned," Malon said harshly. Link realized the girl behind him was insane… and that yes, it was why he loved her.

Taraya watched no-clan Nolamar defy the mighty _Koume_, one of the greatest sorceresses to serve Gannondorf, over a _slave_. Knight or not, a man wasn't worth losing your life for.

"Separate them!" Koume shrieked, and two Iron knuckles grabbed Nolamar and Kiln, pulling them apart.

"I will sear the meat from your _bones_, girl," the witch said eagerly, raising her staff. Kiln managed to wrestle one of his arms from the crushing strength of the Iron Knuckle that held him, and hurled a knife. Not at Koume directly. No, instead, the knife knocked the staff off target, and the blast of fire immolated a silk tapestry, looted from a hylian castle or some such. The sorceress stared at the ashes in shock, "That was my favorite—" she looked up at Kiln murderously.

"Bring me his belt," she demanded. One of the Knuckles stepped forward, and unfastened the weapons belt, carrying it to the sorceress. She pulled a strange blue stone, with holes out, tossing the belt aside.

"You never even realized what treasure you held," Koume cackled, fondling the strange object.

"It has been too long since the last execution," Koume said gleefully.

Link woke slowly. He could taste sand in his mouth, and weakly raised his head. He felt like someone had trampled him with a horse. Repeatedly. He was lying in an arena of some kind. He saw an iron gate set into the wall to his left, but more importantly, he saw Malon, lying to his right. He'd also been stripped to the waist… but they'd left his handwraps in place. Small favors. The strange gauntlets were still beneath them, as well as the goron ring. But they'd taken the master sword. So long as no idiot pulled it out of the sheathe…

Malon had been stripped of weapons as well, but only that. She still had her clothing. Link shaded his eyes, trying to see what lay above the stone pit. It took him a moment to realize the movement he saw was that of a crowd, sitting on tiered rows of seating. This was a spectacle. Malon was still unconscious, and Link shook her gently.

He wondered where Navi was, but felt something move in the crease behind his right ear. Ah, clever faerie.

That hateful, raspy voice began to speak, magically amplified. Navi spoke from his hair, translating:

"This woman, and her slave have dared to oppose my justice. I am, of course, merciful, and as such, if they survive their trial, they may live."

Link located the box the withered hag sat in, with slaves fanning her, beneath the shade of a silk awning.

The iron gate began to rise, the mechanisms catching, causing the ascent to be as ragged as a dying man's breaths.

The noise was horrendous. Link covered his ears. Then the gate halted, half-raised. Apparently, for whoever was operating the device, that was satisfactory. From the dark tunnel, something howled, and burst from the gate…_ several_ somethings.

Wolfos. Link didn't move, didn't fight. He just waited, crouching beside Malon as the emaciated predators came closer.

Quietly, he spoke, in the tongue of their mutual homeland. He spoke of the trees, the ferns, the wild game. He spoke of the life, and the heart of the forest. He spoke of wet leaves after a rain, of cool shadow, green light.

And the predators faltered. The largest of the wolfos came closer, and whined, piteously. Link held out his hand, palm down, and the giant wolf sniffed at his fingers.

The other wolfos still circled, unsure. They were mere pups. They weren't more than two years… they probably had never even seen the forest. Their mother had though…

And she remembered the kokiri, the tree-people. She remembered their hands, their voices, their speech. She just wanted to go home, away from the desert sands, and the whips, and the goads. She wanted to run again, for miles without walls to turn her back upon herself. Where the sun was not so harsh, nor so bright.

Nikaru watched from the stands, as the demon-man she had once held calmed the beast sent to kill him. The way the largest beast melted like a puppy sent something strange through her heart. The demon-man gently scratched her ears, and slowly, the other beasts approached, cautiously. They bore the marks of whip and goad, to drive them to fury, but they gathered to her demon as if he were the lee of a rock to escape from a sandstorm's fury. It was then that the proud woman realized that she hadn't failed to tame a man. She had failed to tame that which could never be tamed… she had commanded the sandstorm to still, and it had ignored her. She had commanded the mountain to move, and it had ignored her. She had commanded the sun to set, and it had instead risen.

Finally, she realized, that there was one thing she could do. Her hatred of the hylian waif was replaced by envy. In some way, she had proven herself in a way Nikaru never could, because she could not even recognize what the demon saw in her.

Nikaru had always wished… she desired glory, the respect of her peers, but deeper than that… she wanted to be instrumental in something, to accomplish something that only she could have done. She did not see Sejuno, or Taraya in the pit below. That meant they were being held elsewhere. Nikaru knew where they would be… and likely, where the demon's sword had also been left.

Link heard the gate begin to rise once again, and the wolfos spun, snarling in the backs of their throats. Link smelled rot. He looked down at Malon, and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right here," he whispered, even though she was still unconscious.

The crowd roared as Link stood, and walked towards the center of the arena, between the unconscious 'gerudo' woman, a wedge of vicious wolfos arrayed behind him. This had never happened before. Wagers were taken, baubles, valuables, and weapons exchanged hands. From the arch, things advanced like spiders… but no spider had ever been cursed to walk such.

It took Link a long second to realize they were hands, grown to monstrous size… and just as rotten as a ReDead. Each was as long as a man, and weighed twice as much… but they would not enter the sunlight, sticking to the shadow cast by the walls of the arena. Link stared up at the sun, for once, glad. Then he saw something begin to spread across the sky, like a black curtain. _Magic_. The bitch was blocking out the sun.

The monster hands cautiously flexed their fingers ahead of them, sensing no sunlight, they reluctantly advanced onto the hot sand, until they realized that there truly was no sunlight to kill them. Then they scuttled forward eagerly.

Link whistled sharply, the signal to attack. The mother wolfos remembered the sound, and howled, a sound to strike fear in the hearts of _any_ enemy. There were six hands. There were seven wolfos, and a very angry man.

The expatriates of the forest didn't stand a chance, but Link didn't care.

The first of the perversions attacked, Link thought it might have been a woman's hand at some point, the fingers were long and delicate looking. He jumped over the blind thing, and tried to pin it to the sand with his weight. He braced his boots, and grabbed the pinkie, pulling back, trying to break it. One of the pups squealed as a hand grabbed it like a spider, and began to squeeze. Its brothers and sisters tore at the rotten meat with their teeth, ripping away muscle, tendon and skin, frenzied. The hand bucked Link off, and tried to grab _him_, but Link's grip didn't loosen, and he transferred his sudden momentum into a throw, sending the hand flying ten or eleven feet away.

The wolfos pups finished killing the slayer of their sister, but there were more… many more. He saw one hand blindly feeling its way towards where Malon lay, and promptly forgot about the plight of the wolfos. He sprinted across the sands, cursing his boots, and leapt atop the hand, as the tip of its finger touched Malon's foot. He grabbed it, ripping and biting, much like a wolf might, using the only weapons that remained to him.

At first, he didn't realize the monster was dead, not until it had begun to dissolve, the foul blood coating his teeth and tongue. He spat on the sands, and vomited.

Behind him, the wolfos still fought, he could hear their snarls and yelps.

He stared at the hand. It bore his shallow scratches and bite marks, but several deep, blackened craters also marked its flesh, and from these came a gentle glow, like sunlight. In the darkness cast by the witch's spell, Link realized his arms were glowing faintly. He pulled the cloth up slightly, and the glow grew brighter. It was the gauntlets.

He charged at the next hand, as a wolfos pup danced and nipped at its fingers, distracting it. Link smashed his fist into the monster, and this time, he saw a brief flash of light, and the hand convulsed, curling like a dying spider as it quivered. There were more hands though, and Link moved on, as the wolfos pup attacked the injured monster. By the sixth hand, there was no glow beneath the wraps, and his punches did little more than stagger the creature. There was no more magic death.

But three wolfos now circled their prey. They had always hunted things stronger than they. They did so, together. The mother nipped a finger, and when the hand spun to strike, a pup ripped a strip of flesh from the hand where the wrist would have been. Link jumped on the hand, punching the hand as hard as he could, then threw himself clear. These gauntlets were amazing. His hands should have been throbbing from that… but beyond the sense of impact, his hands hadn't been harmed. It took the wolves another half hour to nibble the monster to death. Once they lamed the pinkie and ring finger, it was basically over except for the messy work of finishing it off.

Link crouched with Malon, holding her off the hot sand in his lap. Her skin was blistered a little, but Link didn't think it was serious. "Wake up…" he whispered softly, her head cradled against his shoulder. The sand beneath him felt mildly warm, but the resistance granted by the goron ring protected him easily, and bolstered his stamina. He didn't understand how the witch had seen the Ocarina, but missed the ring, or the gauntlets, for that matter.

Nikaru slunk through the keep of Koume. She had ambushed one of the guards, and taken her face wrap and uniform, layering it over her own clothing. She'd even gotten a rather decent glaive out of the deal.

Most of the guards were missing, no doubt at the arena, protecting their mistress.

Iron Knuckles were rare. It disgusted Nikaru that so many had been pulled away from the battles and skirmishes in Hyrule to protect the life of one sorceress, in their most secure holdings. She stopped at each intersection, planted her glaive, and peered around, as if bored… just like a good guard would do.

The fortress had been designed, long ago, to serve as a bastion, should an enemy prove too strong for the Gerudo to defeat in the open, a place to hide their children, while they fought. It had never been used for such purpose, no army had every crossed the shifting sands and remained strong enough to challenge them within their own land… although the drought that had plagued them for ten years had all but destroyed the semi-fertile heartlands; created by over a hundred oases that had supported thickets of bamboo, sugar cane, and coconut trees.

The canes were gone, the bamboo dormant, and the trees withered husks.

Now the shifting sands encroached ever farther into lands that had once sustained the gerudo.

Nikaru straightened to attention as a single iron knuckle ambled past, but the woman didn't even spare a glance for a guard so far beneath her station.

Fool.

Link squinted in the dark, watching the gate rise again. Malon groaned, and turned in his arms.

"Link? Where are we?" she whispered, scared.

"You're gerudo," Link admonished her quietly, "And I'm mute,"

Several giant wolves sat around them, and the air stank.

"What is that smell?" Malon asked, in the desert tongue, and Link grinned.

He kissed her ear, "We have to survive the arena, then we will be spared."

"You seem to have everything under control," Malon chuckled, slipping back into her role as Nolamar.

She straightened, with Link's help, and he pointed out the witch to her. She nodded, and stood beside Link, waiting for whatever was coming to show its ugly face.

Ugly was right. Four Stalfoes stepped from the gate fearlessly, for although it was day, they need not hide beneath the dirt, because the sun did not shine here.

They were on the small side, perhaps the reason they were _here_, and not serving Ganon in Hyrule. Like all Stalfoes, the armor they'd died in still clung to them loosely, bits of it torn away, lost, or even broken.

Link sized up the enemy. One carried a rusty claymore. The last foot of the pitted blade had broken off some how, leaving the skeleton with a long handle, and four feet of blade. Such a weapon would be fast from such leverage, especially in the hands of an undead. It would be restricted to a predominantly slashing style.

The next carried a circular iron shield with so many dents and scratches that it almost looked like lizard hide. It carried an axe, but the axe's head had notches in the rusting blade, and more over, it had been designed for use with two hands, to chop _wood_. Still, the strength of the undead would compensate.

Link looked to the next undead. This one carried a length of chain, but the links had been flattened on the edges, producing blunt edges, that would deal more than just bludgeoning damage. Still, it was not the most dangerous. That was reserved for the stalfoe at the rear of the group. It had a loose quiver strapped to its back, from which it drew a javelin. Both ends were filed to sharp points.

These stalfoes might have been smaller than most Link had fought, but they seemed better able to coordinate their attacks, instead of dueling as solo combatants. Also, they were armed, and he wasn't. The wolves growled uncertainly. This foe had no meat to tear, no muscles to lame.

There was a general outcry from the crowd above, and several weapons arced through the air, to fall in the sand.

They were shoddy, cheap weapons, no doubt objects their owners wouldn't miss. Link snatched up a bola, made from cracking leather and stone, as well as a short wooden spear. An old, rusting hylian sword had landed near the stalfoes, too close to risk retrieval at the moment.

Link tossed the spear to Malon, and began to circle the group of undead. He didn't spin the bolas, lest the bindings snap from the strain. He intended to use the weapon as a flail. As long as the stalfoes remained bunched up, the skirmisher wouldn't be able to easily throw its weapons at Link. He needed to keep them defensive. He mock charged, darting away from the axe wielder at the last second, and hurdled the sharpened chain. He swung the bola hard as he passed, cracking the chain-wielder in the side of the skull, but although there was a crack, Link realized he'd only succeeded in dislodging the jawbone. The skeletons advanced after him, trying to hem him into a corner.

He saw Malon charge the javelin thrower from behind, and his heart skipped a beat, until he saw her pluck the hylian sword from the sand, and retreat, barely dodging a javelin, which she snatched up as well.

Link ran along the base of the wall, straight for the claymore wielder, who braced its legs, and prepared to strike. Link flung the bolas as they were intended, and when the skeleton raised its sword to deflect the projectiles, Link rolled between its legs, free of their net. He met Malon half-way, and she tossed the rusting sword to him.

The crowd cheered.

Nikaru paused at the stairs that would lead down to the prison cells. She couldn't hear any voices, or foot steps. The young warrior calmly began to descend the spiral stairs, her soft soled leather boots making only the barest whisper of a sound. At the bottom, she found only a single guard, lounging at a desk.

"It's about time you arrived," the guard said, jumping to her feet.

She handed the ring of keys to Nikaru, and hastily left.

Apparently, the guard Nikaru had tied up and left in a storage room had been on her way here… or else the relief guard was late.

Either way, fortune had smiled upon Nikaru for once, and she had little time to waste. She found a bin nearby, with the effects and weapons of the prisoners hastily dumped inside. She found the demon's baldric, and touched the leather wrapped hilt of the sword… but didn't draw it. She wasn't stupid.

Then she went to find Sejuno and Taraya, clutching the ring of keys.

Link ducked under the claymore, and hacked savagely at the stalfos' knee, shattering the bony joint…as well as half the blade from his sword. He still had eighteen inches of blade. Link grabbed the Stalfoe's heavy leg, and retreated with it. The foot on the end writhed desperately, but there weren't any joints to let it kick Link.

The damaged Stalfoe crawled to the axe user, and supported itself on its good leg, holding onto the ribs of its comrade with the other hand.

Perfect. Link needed its sword, soon, before the weapon in his hand finished breaking. The javelin thrower had no shafts left to throw since Malon had them and was playing keep away. One of the pups was dying slowly off to one side, having taken a javelin through the ribs, meant for its mother.

Link attacked the axe wielder, knocking the axe off target with the leg in his hand (which shattered in the process) but he managed to shatter the axe wielder's shin… which snapped the rest of his sword blade off, leaving him with a hilt he could bludgeon an enemy with, but little else.

He retreated back towards Malon, and held out his hand. She tossed one of her javelins to him. He planted it in the ground, and broke one of the sharpened ends off, hefting the slightly shorter weapon, now sharp on only one end. The chain user tried to protect the two damaged Stalfoes, but Link ducked under the cumbersome weapon, and smashed the pommel in his hand into a bony wrist, blocking the awkward counter slash with the javelin. He hit the wrist a second time, and released the broken javelin, coming away with the stalfoe's claymore, although it took some work to rip the bony hand off the hilt. He tossed the broken hilt in his hand at the sand near Malon's feet.

The Stalfoes pulled together, and Link attacked. The chain wielder stepped forward to engage, but this time, Link didn't try to avoid it, he struck the foe in the knees, then began chopping at its limbs while it writhed on the sands. The chain wrapped around him, but fell to his waist as the hand holding it was severed.

The axe wielder was too far away to assist its comrade, unable to move quickly.

Then Link moved on, shrugging off the chain, he spun the links around his head, and hurled it at the axe wielder, tangling its weapon. Link took off its head, and retreated from the blind counter-swing. He skipped forward, taking off its weapon hand, caught the axe, and retreated. The battle was essentially over, once again, all that remained was the dismemberment of the enemy.

Nikaru led the escapees, now rearmed, back through the fortress, still posing as a guard. So many had gone to the arena, that even if an alarm was raised, no one would arrive in time to stop them. Nikaru tossed aside the uniform behind a stack of barrels, but kept the glaive. It was well balanced, and she had lost hers to the demon weeks ago.

Eventually, they reached the packed arena, and made a few enemies as they tried to slip into the tightly packed crowd.

The gate rose again, and Link swung the broken claymore idly. The artificial darkness vanished, and sunlight streamed down once again, to bake the fighters on the oven-like sands. So not undead then, Link decided.

The crowd was dead silent.

Two creatures stepped out into the light, their tongues scenting the air. Lizafoes?

Link had never seen the reptilian warriors look so… _competent._ These had metal armor, fitted for their bodies, and not scavenged from the armor of the dead. Both carried a round metal shield, and a long sword, scaled to their height. They also looked bulkier, more muscular… just _bigger_ than the other lizafoes.

Link stared at the creatures, as they looked at him, cocking their heads. Malon tossed a javelin to him, and Link hurled it. The lizafoe contemptuously looked down, so that the projectile glanced off the top of his armored head.

They were in trouble.

They hissed at each other, and apparently, one of them won the argument, and advanced. Duelists, then. That was… good… maybe.

Link carefully approached the lizafoe, raising his claymore into a cautious guarding stance. The first exchange nearly killed him. Link blocked the sword, evaded the shield, and was almost gutted by the short blade attached to the lizafoe's tail.

Worse, Link felt the claymore shiver in his hands. Somewhere, it had an imperfection. Another good blow would break the blade.

Sejuno reached the edge of the crowd, overlooking the pit. She saw the demon, struggling to kill two Dinafoes… although the arrogant reptiles were holding back, engaging him one on one. She saw Malon closer to her side of the arena. Perfect.

Taraya passed a bundle to Sejuno, who strong-armed it into the arena, to almost land on Malon.

Malon glared up at the crowd, now they were throwing stuff at her. She looked back to Link's duel fearfully, but she noticed a flash of color near her foot. The girl looked down and saw that an arrow's fletching had protruded from the rags. Malon knelt, and pulled the cloth away, revealing her bow and quiver. Half the arrows had been broken from the blow to her back last night.

Sejuno and the others were close.

She flexed the stave, and strung it quickly, cinching the quiver onto her back, after dumping the useless pieces.

She sighted and fired in the same motion. The lizard-man Link fought suddenly reared back and screeched, the shaft of an arrow sticking out of its eye. She hadn't had the proper angle for a kill shot. Now she did, sending a second arrow into the lizard-man's mouth, through the top of its palate, and presumably into something important, because it stiffened, then fell over, its muscles locked.

The second lizard-man immediately charged her, keeping its shield interposed. She hit an exposed angle, and the inner crease of an elbow, but nothing—

A black and grey blur crashed into the lizard-man from the side, knocking it over. The big wolfos's teeth slide impotently over the smooth plate metal armor, trying to find flesh to rend.

The lizard man kicked her off with its clawed feet, and rose, sheltering behind its shield. That's when Link swung the chain he'd recovered, which twined around its ankles. He'd also dropped the claymore, instead, the weapon he swung was the wood-axe. The wooden handle exploded into splinters upon impact… but the axe head was wedge between two segmented plates, and the lizard-man howled… which let Malon silence it just like its twin.

In the sudden silence, you could have heard a feather hit the ground. Then the gerudo started cheering. The metal gate did not rise again. Apparently the "trial" was over.

The coarse voice of the witch rose, drowning out the gerudo present, until there was silence. "She's coming down," Navi translated.

Ah. The bitch. They'd passed her trials, so now, she was going to finish them herself. Whispers began to buzz, as the gerudo conversed, uncertain how to react to this declaration. Some of the gerudo, who had taken the long-odds, were feeling their jubilation fade. It would seem the wager was not over yet.

Link panted, catching his breath while he waited for the decrepit hag to be carried down to the arena floor by her own ornate palanquin. Malon recovered her arrows, and stood near the two wolfos. The former kokiri hefted one of the lizard-men's weapons experimentally, but let it fall in disgust. The blade was too large, too heavy. So they waited. Link pulled off his boots and offered them to Malon, as she danced in place, her own thinner footwear unable to shield her from the sand's heat. Reluctantly, she accepted the boots, since Link's feet weren't turning red or blistering from the hot sand.

The four iron knuckles set the corners of the palanquin down, and stood by as the witch approached, leaning on her staff.

"You have fought well, and earned your reprieve," the witch said, her voice magically pitched to sound reasonable, but hatred burned in her droopy eyes.

"Kill your slave, who dared defy me, and I will grant you mercy," the witch finished. Her face, hidden from the gerudo above was filled with gloating malice.

"You attempted to kill me, sorceress. My slave protected me then, just as he protected me in this arena!" Malon shouted, letting her words carry to the watching gerudo.

"Kill him, or you both will die!" the witch screeched, raising her staff threateningly. Link edged forward, placing himself between the fire and Malon, raising his chin. She had seven arrows in her quiver. That wasn't good odds against four iron knuckles and a sorceress. Link was covered in shallow cuts, bruises, and sprains, breathing hard from more than just fatigue.

"Then so be it!" the sorceress shrieked, the pitch of her voice almost enough to shatter glass ware, and flames engulfed them.

Taraya's heart stopped when Koume immolated Nolamar, Kiln, and the two wolfos that stood behind them. She couldn't see anything through the flood of fire. Koume released the attack, and leaned on her staff, satisfied. The sand of the arena had been turned to glass in great swirls and waves, but as the smoke cleared, a man stood, his hands glowing like the sun. There was a moment of stunned silence as Nolamar also stood.

They had endured the flames of Koume, without a mark. Then the man lunged forward, and his bare foot smashed into her face, flipping her head over heels across the blistering sand. An iron knuckle charged, and the man spun, back handing the armored warrior.

The gerudo stared in shock as the Knuckle flew through the air like a rag doll, to crash into the sands, motionless. The glow in the hand that had struck was dimmer, but still present. The rest of the iron knuckles charged at once. They could be accused of many flaws, but cowardice was not one of them.

When the man who could not possibly be a man finished throwing the three hundred pound knuckles into walls, he turned, and advanced on the witch, his hands dim once more. She crawled towards her staff pitifully, screeching for aid… but none came. Her guards were either unconscious or dead. The man walked past her, picked up the staff, and theatrically snapped it over his leg, tossing the useless halves aside. He grabbed the sorceress by the hair, and casually dragged her across the sands to where his master stood, and hauled the flailing magic user forward.

Link suddenly realized something, feeling the magic that coursed within the witch… and the shadow within him chuckled, amused that it had taken him so long to see what lay before his eyes.

He looked up at Malon, who cocked her head at him.

"_Key kept in trust, immune to rust, turn back the lock, remake the rock.'_

'_Shifting sands, unmoving hands, timeless vigil, recent sigil,'_

'_Power of silver, in darkest night, long since lost, found by true light.'_

'_Hero now, hero then, return once more and begin,'_

'_**Destroy their blight, restore their sight, ensure they'll fight"**_

He dropped the witch, and stepped close to Malon, whispering in her ear, "Ganon caused the drought. The life of the land is keeping the bitch alive. If we kill her, it might undo the curse… somewhat," Link said.

Malon slowly walked out to the center of the arena, "I am Nolamar, of no-clan! I defy this sorceress, because of her crimes. Ganondorf has deceived us! This drought is not the product of nature, or the Gods!"

The witch was staring at Malon with open horror… and the gerudo could see it.

Angry whispers began to fill the stands.

"The life of our land keeps this vile creature alive, beyond its normal span! It devours the water, the rain, the food! But no more!" Malon shouted.

She gestured sharply to Link, who nodded. Link grabbed the struggling sorceress's head, looking her in the eye, so that she might see her death, and he twisted sharply. The sorceress was dead before her body hit the ground. For a long beat, nothing happened. Then the sky began to darken, and the gerudo screamed in fear… but Link could see the magic flowing out of the shriveled husk, which was deflating… and the stolen life returned.

With a crash of thunder, the heaves opened, and rain began to fall. Standing in the rain, steam began to rise from the hot sand around them, Link found Malon, and kissed her. He had not expected to survive. The rain strengthened, until it felt like hailstones upon bare skin, but the gerudo did not care, staring in awe at the miracle around them.

The drought was over.

From around the arena, a chant rose, "_Nalomar! Nalomar! Nalomar! Nalomar!"_

The gerudo's blight was over.

Ganondorf's deception had been removed from their eyes.

Now, the Gerudo prepared to fight.

If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… Link felt a tingle of anticipation, to see what a nation of furious women could do.

Malon felt his smile through their kiss… and for once, she felt like she knew his thoughts, and his heart.


	14. Chapter 14 By the Blood that Binds

Ser Donovan walked through the rebel camp. It had taken him a few days, but he'd learned to switch hands. Now, his crippled hand carried his shield, with more straps than before, certainly, but Donovan was a knight. He had trained for this eventuality, and could fight left-handed. He had dispatched the sheikah, practically to the four corners of Hyrule. This was it. They could not delay their attack any longer. Everyday Ganon's forces swelled, while the rebels dwindled. In another month, there would be no army.

The hero had not returned from his journey to the desert, but the veteran knight had faith that Princess Zelda knew what she was doing. He had sent runners to practically every village in the land, the summons for war. He did not know how many would answer. All of the villages in Ordon province, to the south had responded immediately. They had marched in force, armed with farming implements turned to more violent pursuits. Some even rode upon massive _goats._

He would muster for five days, then march on the castle. He couldn't wait longer than that, not without risking the Dark Lord striking first.

((()))

Link walked beside Malon, and everywhere they went, they found women with hard eyes, saddling horses, and readying their men. "How soon can the city be ready?" Malon asked the armored woman beside her.

"Two days. I took the liberty of dispatching messengers to neighboring tribes… but many have migrated to Hyrule," the iron knuckle, Setsu, of Clan Hirosh said, keeping a wary eye on the two wolf demons that trailed behind the slave of Nolamar.

"Send messengers to the Hylians. We will need more swords to fight Ganondorf," Malon said.

Setsu hesitated, "If you think it wise, Nolamar."

"I understand it is a risk, and I will not place the burden upon your clan alone. Nikaru, will you bring our terms to the Hylians?" Malon asked, looking behind her. The woman seemed startled to be addressed, "I… I would be honored."

Link had noticed a change in the woman, after the rain. Nikaru hadn't _softened_, but somehow, without saying anything, she and Malon were no longer enemies now, though they certainly weren't friends.

Link was more surprised by the fierce and practically unshakable loyalty of Setsu, the Iron Knuckle who had served Koume so faithfully… and had been one of the women Link threw into an arena wall. The woman he back-handed was dead, however, her neck had been broken, as well as most of the bones in her body. If the gerudo had not believed him Malon's slave, and completely loyal to her, he had no doubt they would have executed him. He was simply too dangerous to their rigid view of the world.

For now, the fractious clans of thieves were united… but Link didn't know how long it would take before their petty rivalries split them apart again. Hopefully not before they dragged Ganon off his throne.

Of course, when Malon said city, she wasn't being literal… there were nearly 10,000 people living within the fortress, and the tent city that surrounded it. Obviously, not _everyone _would be able to muster, there weren't enough horses to carry them all, some were too old, some too young, some were pregnant, some had babies to care for… but by rough estimate, nearly three thousand gerudo would be riding with them to war, most of them veterans… and the wealthier warriors were bringing their men along, on horses of their own. Link had taken a look at the two hundred or so men that would accompany their masters… all of them looked… hard. Few lacked scars, and most had muscles that seemed on par with that of a goron. The softer men would be left to guard the new mothers, and the children… because it wasn't worth the effort transporting them, compared to their fighting capabilities… not to mention, men were a luxury, and few gerudo were eager to risk their loss… but for some, the men were left behind because the gerudo in question was fond of them, or even loved them, and did not wish them harmed. Unfortunately, it seemed in those instances the feelings tended to be mutual, which led to heated words when the man in question found out that he was being left behind, while his loved one went to war.

((()))

One advantage to having a small army, was at least it could move quickly, Donovan thought to himself darkly. Two thousand villagers and peasants had answered the call, little more than militia. Lito and Aris's rebel companies had rendezvoused with the main body, just south of Iloccia, a town near the very center of Hyrule, and sixty miles distant from Ganon's castle. The addition of almost five hundred veteran soldiers quickly boosted the morale of the peasants, but it merely underscored for Donovan how ill prepared they were. They had less than sixty horse, which comprised their entire cavalry, and most of them were horse archers… unless you counted the goats.

He would never have dreamed of this day… to risk everything on one last gamble… but perhaps their cautiousness had led them to this state of affairs.

Donovan didn't know, and it didn't change his task, the rescue of Hyrule's heir, and the destruction of the usurper. He held little stock in the magic the Princess believed so vital to Ganon's downfall. In the end, the day would be decided by mortal weapons, held in the fists of mundane warriors.

As they traveled, their numbers grew, militia from towns they passed fell in among them, encouraged by how massive the army seemed to be, for many of these villages had never seen anything larger than raiding parties. The peasants were rallying behind one man, Talon, who seemed to have embodied their cause with his coarse speech, hatred, and thirst for retribution.

With every village he visited along their route, twice as many fighters returned with him.

((()))

Donovan halted their march, six miles from the castle, and set up their staging grounds. There was still no word from the Hero, or their allies. He still had two days before his attack. With nearly three thousand peasants and five hundred soldiers, he believed they had a fair chance of defeating the Dark Lord… provided he was unable to recall his scattered army quickly enough to mount a serious defense.

Ganon had the superior position, the fortifications, the walls. The few trees in the grass lands were quickly cut down, and engines of war were constructed, namely trebuchet; essentially over-sized, ungainly slings, that hurled boulders incredible distances. Scouts were dispatched, to warn the army of enemy activity.

((()))

Zelda sat in her chambers, trembling. She could feel the coming battle, a great tear in the future, where many would die. Naturally, it was then that Ganon entered her chambers.

"It saddens me, but soon, your usefulness will end, and I will remake the world, as it should be," Ganon said eagerly.

"You do not have the Triforce of Courage, nor will you ever lay hands upon it," Zelda said coolly.

Ganon slapped her, but it was more from habit than anger.

"Even with the _Sages_, and your _Hero_, there is no chance of victory against me. My power is unlimited, my reach infinite," Ganon chuckled.

"Which is why it took you over seven years to capture me, a girl of eighteen," Zelda smirked.

Ganon didn't rise to the bait, instead he shrugged, "My true army stands ready to defend this castle… and when your loyal soldiers attack, they will be trapped between the castle and a sea of steel."

"Even if they are all destroyed they will not let themselves fall until your blood runs from their swords," Zelda said coldly.

"Then there's no time to waste, is there?" Ganon sneered, pinning her to the bed.

((()))

The day before the attack, Ser Donovan was roused from his restless sleep by a sheikah, Lito. Apparently, there was a rather loud Goron, with a big hammer, demanding to speak to the "Boss."

Ser Donovan strapped on his shield and sword hastily, before following Lito through the forest of tents. Near the outer edge, a delegation of gorons crouched patiently. One of them rose, with a truly large hammer across his shoulders, as if it weighed nothing.

"You the boss?" he asked.

"I am Ser Donovan. I lead Hyrule's armies in milady's absence," Ser Donovan confirmed.

"So… that's a yes," the goron decided.

"And you are?" Donovan asked politely.

"Ah, right. I'm Darunia, boss of the Gorons, and Sage of Fire," the goron said.

Donovan noticed the red medallion on a chain around _Darunia's_ neck.

"I have heard of you, Darunia, if even half of it is true, I would be honored to fight beside you," Ser Donovan said.

"Well, we can't let you have all the fun," Darunia chuckled.

Donovan counted only thirty of the rugged warriors. They were likely worth ten soldiers each, but he wished more had come.

"Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of my clan are a couple hours behind us. Just didn't want you to panic, you know, seeing us coming…" Darunia said flippantly.

"How many more?" Donovan asked.

"Well… let me think… there's another seven hundred gorons, three biggorons… and six hundred Armos," Darunia said, counting on his rocky fingers. He looked at Donovan apologetically, "We tried to hurry, but the moblins made quite a mess in Death Mountain, so we had trouble widening the tunnels enough for the biggorons to get out."

Donovan's knees felt slightly weak. Six hundred _Armos?_ He'd thought they were legends only. Their chances of victory had just increased ten fold.

Darunia was as good as his word. Donovan didn't know what biggorons were, but they sounded big. Two hours later, Donovan saw just how big. They looked like gorons…. the size of _trees_. They seemed slow, however.

Marching ahead of the biggorons came twelve perfect columns of Armos, each holding fifty of the stone golems, followed by a disorganized rabble of gorons carrying weapons of every type and make.

The peasants and soldiers alike watched the approaching army with something close to awe, especially the biggorons.

"Why do we even _need_ trebuchet?" One soldier asked his comrade.

"Because it makes us look professional?" the spearman guessed.

"I reckon we let the Armos charge, and when the _Dark Lord_'s finished wetting himself, we can get off our arses, and execute the bastard," the first soldier chuckled.

When morale jumps quickly, it can fall even faster, if the battle turned against them. Donovan didn't like what was happening, but he couldn't do much to stop it either.

Later that evening, Darunia and Donovan began to draw up a plan of attack. Neither knew the strengths, or weaknesses of the other, so it was a learning experience.

A breathless messenger entered the war tent, and saluted nervously.

"What is it, son?" Donovan asked the nervous lad.

"Perimeter scouts came back, sir, they say there's a forest approaching, from the southeast,"

It sounded like the scouts were drunk… or insane. But Donovan sent out additional scouts. They returned fifteen minutes later, with similar tales.

Worried, Donovan found his charger, and joined the third band of scouts personally.

In the dimming light of sunset, Donovan reigned up on a hill, which had a commanding view for miles of the flat plains… and sure enough, Donovan saw something that looked like small trees on the move… but now other objects amid the "forest" could be seen in the tall grass.

"Are those _wolves?_" one archer asked, nervously patting his horse.

"Not at that size, they're wolfos. We used to see a few every now and then, down by the Kokiri woods," the man on Donovan's right said.

"There's things riding them though," another archer pointed out. The force was still nearly two miles distant.

"Get back to the camp, and get the men ready for battle, just in case," Donovan said, sending one of the group back as messenger.

"And what'll we be doing?" the scout on his left asked apprehensively.

"Scouting," Donovan said grimly, kicking his horse's flanks.

If this was a surprise attack, the force didn't seem large enough to be a threat, Donovan thought. They covered three quarters of a mile, and halted, watching the forest approach. Several of the wolfos accelerated, breaking away from the mobile glade. When they were closer, Donovan felt the blood drain from his face.

They were Kokiri.

He'd seen a Kokiri once, seven years ago, use magic to drown two Iron Knuckles in a moat.

"Halt, and identify yourselves," a dry mouthed scout called, clinging to protocol.

The lead demon slowed her mount, "I am Saria, of the Kokiri, and Sage of the Forest. We come to aid you, sir knight."

"How have you left the forest?" Donovan inquired.

"_I am the forest_, good knight. Where I go, it follows," the demon laughed, much like a child.

The approaching forest began to slow and halt behind the motionless Sage.

Each of the masked demons had a sapling on their back, roots and all, as well as burlap travel sacks.

They couldn't leave the forest… so they brought it with them…

"You'll understand if I don't position you among the men, I hope," Donovan said politely. The demon shrugged, "My trees need space to feed anyway."

Donovan simply shook his head, and rode back to camp. This was going to be a long night.

The men grew quiet and watchful, as word spread among them that the forest-demons had come, with a magical thicket of trees. Others claimed the demons had ridden the trees to the camp, and still others laughed, and told of monstrous wolves the size of bears.

The peasants respected the gorons, but even though, in comparison, the contingent of forest-demons was far smaller, in both stature and numbers, they were seen as the more intimidating ally. Many of the demons wore masks, but more were strange creatures with black skin and flutes. The most numerous were strange tree-men that waddled on two legs, or crawled on four.

((()))

"I don't like having your… people… behind the men. It will make them nervous," Donovan explained to the demon. She was currently sitting on the war table, her masked face resting on her fist.

"We do not stand and fight, ser knight. We kill and fade. Many of my friends will die if we attempt to fight as you do. You do not ask the gorons to change their tactics," the demon said, annoyed.

"What of your wolves, then? Will they not fight as cavalry?" Donovan demanded hotly.

The demon girl shook her head, "We will fight as we always have,"

"If you're not going to agree to anything, then why are you even sitting in on this meeting?" Donovan growled.

"To learn what you plan, and decide how best to aid you in accomplishing it," the demon girl said calmly.

"Let 'em be, boss-knight," Darunia said, "They don't think like you. Their minds are sneaky little mazes,"

"My son spoke most highly of you, Darunia," the demon girl giggled, a noise that disturbed Donovan greatly.

"Yeah? You raised him right, then," Darunia chuckled.

"Your son?" Donovan asked, lost.

"Well… he's adopted," the girl whispered conspiratorially.

"I don't follow…" Donovan said.

"The kid, the one with the magic sword," Darunia hinted.

Link? This was his mother?

It explained much about him… namely his ability to irritate Donovan with ease.

Donvan shook his head, "As I was saying, we can use the biggorons to break the market walls here and here, to insert our forces into the city with far fewer losses, _if_ necessary."

Unfortunately, Darunia wanted to break the walls anyway, and Donovan spent the better part of an hour talking the goron out of any hasty actions.

((()))

Princess Ruto led her warriors from the river, and over the field, towards the encampment in the distance. Not all of her warriors, only ten or so. She was briefly challenged by a Hylian picket, but they let her pass without much trouble. She saw movement towards the rear of the camp and saw hundreds of forest demons of many shapes and sizes. Most looked like walking shrubbery. She also saw gorons and their strange war machines. She was led into a tent.

A sheikah with frightening hooked swords was pointing out positions on a map to a Hylian in heavy plate armor. Next to them stood a very large Goron, and lounging on the table was a female forest demon Ruto recognized, Saria. They were arguing. Off to one side, a very old looking Hylian woman was sitting on a camp chair, leaning on a wooden staff.

"Uh… greetings, I am Princess Ruto, representing my father on his behalf. I am also the Water Sage," she said nervously. They were all staring at her.

"Well, come in girl," the old hylian cackled. Ruto hastily approached the table.

"How many warriors have you brought?" The armored hylian asked briskly.

"Many of my people are scattered, or dead. I brought over three hundred, most of them from our royal guard," Ruto apologized.

"Can they fight on land?" The sheikah asked.

"Yes, if I make it rain," she said.

That drew additional stares.

"But we are better in water," Ruto said quickly.

Saria pitied the Zora princess. She looked so… lost. She seemed hardly old enough to be leading her people to war, let alone act as a Sage… but… these were extraordinary times.

"What of my son?" Saria asked Impa.

The shiekah elder shook her head, "Still no word… but I have received reports of activity to the west."

They worked the Zora into the battle plan, as last minute additions to the right flank, which was closest to the river. The artificial darkness only extended four miles out from the castle, but it would block the sun, increasing the difficulty of coordinating their forces.

((()))

"You ask them," the peasant said.

"It was your question," his friend protested.

"Yeah, but you're bigger," the man said, grinning.

"And you're faster," the taller man argued.

"What will you be asking us?" a forest demon asked, cocking her masked head.

"Err, nothing, nothing of note," the big peasant said quickly.

The demon wagged a finger at them, "You made us curious, so we think it's _very_ important," she giggled, sending a shiver down both men's spines.

"Well, Burt didn't mean no offense, but, he thinks you're… well, he thinks Kokiri come from acorns. I tried to tell him yu'r born from trees that grow from dead logs,

but—"

The demon started laughing at them, and a gold faerie girl joined in.

"You're funny," the demon giggled.

"So… we're wrong?" the big peasant asked, starting to feel sheepish.

"A long time ago, we used to be children. Then we ran away, and got lost in the woods, where we could play and do what we want, forever. A lot of us came when the Dark Man burned your towns. Lots of children came to the woods then, and became more of us."

The demon couldn't have said anything more terrifying. The forest turned children into demons. Burt and his friend were a curious shade of grey.

"And… grown ups?" Burt asked warily.

"You always try to hurt the trees. So we kill you till you run away," the demon-girl said brightly.

"I don't have any more questions do you Burt? No okay let's go," the little peasant said, talking quickly, pulling his friend away, but he shook off the little man.

"You were children?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Do you remember your names after you… turn?" Burt asked.

"Yup, I'm Sasha," the little girl said.

"Is there a boy, his name was Ian?" Burt asked.

The girl hesitated, "One of my friends is named Ian," she admitted.

"May I see him?" Burt asked desperately.

"Um…" for a moment, the demon really did seem to be a little girl. She shrugged, and walked into the little forest they'd set up. Burt waited… he thought the demon had changed her mind, but eventually, she came back, pulling a boy by the wrist, and another girl followed behind.

"Ian?" Burt called hesitantly, the demon boy froze, his tail wrapping firmly around a sapling.

"_Ian?"_ Burt repeated, stepping into the little trees, hope warring with fear of disappointment.

"Daddy," the demon boy said quietly.

"Ian!" Burt sobbed, ignoring the demons that stood around his son, his little boy.

He seemed so small, and frail in his arms.

"Ian, I thought you were dead," he whispered.

"I did die, daddy," Ian said sadly. He pulled up his mask, and Burt felt his blood run cold.

He recognized his son's face, but the eyes… the eyes were wrong. There weren't any whites to them; they were a solid color, in this case, brown.

But seeing his son, different as he might be, was tearing open wounds Burt had carried for years, since finding his home on fire, wife dead, and son missing.

"You are Ian's daddy?" the girl next to his son asked, cocking her head.

"And who are you?" Burt asked. Ian pulled away from him, and took the girl's hand, "This is Natalie. She's my mate,"

Ian should have been fifteen, but he looked just like Burt had seen him last, almost four years ago.

Burt could feel his heart breaking, seeing his son step away from him. He was losing him again.

"How much do you remember, from being my son?" Burt asked quietly.

"We don't forget, if that's what you're asking," Ian said quietly.

"Are you happy?" Burt asked, swallowing, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Yes," Ian said, his voice very small.

"Good," Burt nodded jerkily.

"If I leave the forest, I'll die for real," Ian said quietly.

"Right," Burt said, nodding mechanically. Ian looked at him, before he reached to his neck, and untied a necklace, made from shiny rocks, braided bark, and bits of polished wood. He held it out to Burt, "You can visit me, if you promise not to hurt the trees," Ian said.

Burt stared at the token in the hands of the demon that was still his son. Slowly, the big man took the necklace, and fastened it around his own neck. It wasn't anywhere near as loose on him as his son… but Burt didn't care. He had his son back. And his son had done some very interesting things in the last four years.

((()))

Donovan sat on his horse, and watched as the peasants formed up into ragged blocks. The blocks themselves weren't ragged, each block had trained together for years to defend their village, but the blocks weren't accustomed to _other_ blocks hemming them in. Each had a ragged flag among them, with a symbol that represented their town.

Of the (roughly) three thousand militia to answer his call, he had over eighty blocks, ranging in size from thirty to a fifty men each.

An inexperienced commander would have sent all of his forces into the city at once, hoping to overwhelm any resistance encountered, but that would have been a grave tactical blunder. With too many troops in enclosed, choked spaces, the men would be deadlocked by their comrades, and move at little more than a crawl. He would send Lito and Aris's companies to secure the city. Now, they wouldn't be alone. Darunia had volunteered a company of Armos, which contained only fifty of the automatons, to assist.

Once the city was secured, he would begin to send in the militia, to man the walls and fortifications, while the rest of the army formed up. Hopefully, they would secure the town, and have already begun their siege of the castle before Ganon's armies could reach them. If they were caught out on the fields before they could take the city… well, this would be a very short battle. Most of the peasants were guarding the supply train, which had orders to get into the city as soon as the signal was given.

"Sir, messengers under the flag of truce are approaching," a scout reported.

"What kind of messengers?" Donovan asked.

"They're gerudo," the man said harshly.

"I will deal with them, if you like," Impa offered.

"Do it," Donovan said. He couldn't be distracted now, they were almost ready to attack.

Impa rode back with the scout. Three gerudo were staring down the spears of peasant militia, who called taunts and jeers at them. They made way for Impa quickly. The riders did indeed carry a white flag… and she recognized the woman on the middle horse. She gestured for the scout to remain behind, and rode out to the messengers alone. She drew up two lengths away from the women, who were shifting nervously, to be addressed by a shadow-demon.

"I am Impa, elder of the Sheikah, state your message," she barked, in the desert tongue. If anything, that unnerved them more.

The gerudo that had sworn loyalty to her son spoke, "We come, representing Nolamar, first among the clans. She offers terms for alliance against the deceiver, the one you call Ganon. Our sisters will arrive in two days. What is your response?"

Impa stared at the woman. Nolamar was the alias Malon had been given. Malon was leading the gerudo now?

Impa slowly trotted her horse closer, until the women could see the hatred in her eyes, "If you speak truth, then we accept your terms. If you deceive us, there is no distance you may flee far enough, that my clan will not find you."

The gerudo flinched, but wheeled, and departed.

((()))

The armies stared at the blackened landscape, and tried to fight the fear that began to rise within their throats. This was an evil place. The veterans ignored the blighted land grimly. The presence of the fearless Armos among them helped to steady the peasants, as well as the gorons. The horn sounded, two blasts, and the army halted, half a mile from the walls.

Then the horn sounded, one long blast, and the 'attack' commenced. Five hundred disciplined veterans advanced across the blackened earth, with fifty towering stone warriors leading them. A squad of Zoras accompanied the group, guarding their princess.

The soldiers reached the destroyed drawbridge and halted. Ruto quickly began to pull the murky water from the moat into a long, towering mound, leading to the main gate. When she was satisfied with the ramp, she turned it to ice. She'd even scalloped the sides to create guard rails, after a fashion. Then she retreated, back towards the river. It would take several hours for the bridge to melt sufficiently to impede travel into the town.

The Armos advanced across the ice bridge, and past the smashed gates. Their heads swiveled, scanning for enemies.

Lito stood among his men. From the destroyed buildings, things began to stir as living soldiers began to form up in the main plaza. The wind moaned eerily… but the banners lay still. There was no wind.

The ReDeads shuffled into the light of the men's torches, reaching out piteously.

"Set spears!" Lito barked, and the command rippled through the ranks. The undead didn't notice the spears, which had been designed to stop charging moblins. The walking corpses hit the cross bars, and were halted, still trying to press forward.

Men with swords and axes darted forward, removing the spitted ReDeads heads.

One man was either unlucky or over confident, and he came too close to his target, which grabbed his arm. He still managed to take of its head, but not before the corpse broke his arm.

The Armos waded through the bulk of the ReDeads, smashing them to pulp with their clubs, or even simply stepping on them, beyond the line of spears, but were too large to enter the buildings, to search for more surprises. Most of the buildings were dangerous in and of themselves, their wooden beams weakened by fire, and the stones loose from the crumbling mortar. So the Armos simply used their clubs to knock out the few lingering supports, and the two story buildings crumbled, much of the rubble filling their cellars, and crushing any monster that might lurk within… once the trebuchet and biggorons were brought within the walls, they would have a ready supply of ammunition as well.

The few buildings untouched by fire, and still structurally sound, the soldiers reluctantly searched, weapons in hand. Lito made a point of entering first.

The first building had once been a store, or shop of some kind. Although the ground floor was clear, Lito dispatched a pair of ReDeads on the second floor, then he heard cries from the first floor, the clash of steel, and hasty commands. Lito didn't waste time with the stairs, he phased through the cracks in the floor boards, and appeared among the men.

Two soldiers were frantically stabbing their swords through a trap door, while men held the arms of a third, trying to keep him from being pulled deeper into the darkness, hauling on the belts of the men in front, at least eight men in total.

The man in the hole was screaming, a long, drawn out scream of agony, as something tore at him in the dark.

Lito threw a handfull of shadow magic at the rotting limbs that ripped and yanked at the man's legs, and the dead flesh parted as if cut by a razor.

With a crash, the men pulling flew back, hauling their friend out of the dark. Lito dropped through the hole, his straight sword flashing to his left and right, knocking the ReDeads away with kicks and punches when they came too close. When he was finished, he stalked among the dead in the dark, checking for any that still 'lived.'

None remained with heads to bodies. He climbed up the ladder, and the men got to work, hauling the rotting bodies out into the street, where they could be burned, lest plague gain a foot hold. Lito moved on to the next building to be searched.

((()))

This was too easy, and it was making Sir Donovan restless. Ganon should have left a garrison of _some_ kind within Castle Town. It was the first line of defense for the secluded castle, but based on the reports Impa was receiving, only the murdered populace of the town remained to resist them. Impa turned, "The city has been secured."

Several men began to blow horns, and sound the advance for the supply train and soldiers that accompanied it… Donovan felt like he was making a mistake…

((()))

"And so, they set the noose about their necks," Ganon gloated to Zelda.

"Yes. Letting them occupy a highly defensible position and capitalize on their strengths, _clearly_ a master stroke," the princess replied. Ganon's humor did not fade, as he stared into the globe in his hand… and Zelda began to worry.

((()))

The ride had been hard, and the horses grazed upon the plains, stripping it bare in the dim light, but they had left the desert, and crossed the mountains into Hyrule. So great a host of warrior and horse could not shelter within a camp, but fires burned in the night, and warriors stood ready against any stalhounds that might seek to attack. Malon threw down the horse blanket, and saddle, too tired to even bother with the tent. Link disappeared from her side, and when he reappeared, he held a bowl of stew in his hand, which he promptly gave to her. Quite simply, Malon had learned that she was a good rider… but she was still human. Muscles she wasn't even aware she possessed ached.

Fingers dug into her shoulders as she ate, and Malon nearly let go of the bowl, which would have dumped a scalding amount of food in her lap. _Carefully_, she set the bowl aside, and let her head hang limp, as Link focused on the knots in her muscles.

"Ah…" Malon sighed. She could get used to this.

Taraya watched the mute knight, and once again, wondered at the sword strapped to his back. He had never drawn it in her sight, but he never took it off willingly either. Perhaps it was broken? But that did not make sense. Kiln and Nolamar were not overly sentimental. If it was broken, it was fixed, or else discarded.

"Nolamar, why does your slave carry that sword upon his back?" Taraya asked, curious. The warrior mumbled, leaning her head back to rest against the shoulder of her slave, as he kneaded his knuckles through the muscles of her back.

Taraya repeated the question twice, before the distracted woman answered, "It was his first sword, when he was a knight," Malon said, improvising.

"I have never seen him draw that blade," the girl said, curious. A large wolfos prowled over to where the couple crouched, and lay its muzzle on Kiln's feet, sighing contentedly. The monster still unnerved Taraya. She had locked gazes with it once, and saw only hatred in its green eyes… hatred of her, or perhaps her kind. It followed Kiln, and Kiln followed Nalomar, as Taraya did… but that did not make them allies. The pup wandered over as well, and curled against its mother's back, notched ears perked and swiveling as it listened.

In the distance, there came a chorus of howls, and the barks of fighting Gerudo. Stalhounds, no doubt. The disturbance lasted only half a minute, before the last of the howls was silenced.

((()))

"What are you doing?" Donovan asked Saria.

"Can't you feel it? Something lurks nearby… something terrible," the Sage whispered, as her fighters and wolfos dug around the inner edges of the town's walls, hastily planting their trees like sentinels at equal points around the perimeter. "Can you be more specific?" Donovan asked, in frustration.

Saria shrugged helplessly, "Unfortunately, no…"

One of the biggorons lumbered past, carefully carrying pieces to one of the trebuchets, drowning out conversation for a moment.

"We'll besiege the castle at dawn," Donovan decided, gauging the readiness of the forces within the walls, as tents were set up, and posts taken. The zoras had already claimed the moat as their territory, now that Darunia had used his hammer to remove the blockages that had stagnated the flow of water. Two hundred Armos stood upon the battlements at intervals of fifty feet, tirelessly peering out into the darkness, clubs at the ready.

"Impa, any word of Sheik yet?" Donovan asked, as the woman slipped into the command tent. She shook her head, "Sheik will either succeed, or fail. It is still too soon to tell."

((()))

Dawn came early, but no sun rose to shine upon the blighted lands, if not for Lito's assurances that it was indeed day, Donovan would have thought it only four hours past sunset. At the far edges of vision, light could be seen at the perimeter of the tainted lands, but no ray journeyed forth, as if stymied by the veil. After careful consideration, Donovan decided to leave the militia behind in the city, to hold the walls and gate. Space was at a premium in the shadow of the castle, and the lightly equipped soldiers would likely become fodder for arrows and crows. Besides, the first order of business was to breach the castle gate, and that responsibility would likely fall to the Gorons, almost exclusively. Soldiers would be of no use, not until the gates fell. When that happened, reinforcements could always be sent for…

Torches were distributed, and men from the two veteran companies formed into blocks, before the march upon the winding castle road began. The men were frightened, except for those who stood near a sheikah.

The garrison of armos for the wall was stripped by half, leaving only a hundred of the automatons every hundred feet, but the intervening spaces was occupied by deku scrubs, business scrubs, and skull kids, not to mention a hand full of peasants armed with ranged weaponry. Their only task was to hold the rear, and protect the supplies against attack from the plains, though the Zoras claimed that none would pass the moat alive. Donovan preferred to be prepared for most contingencies. The rest would lead the assault… but it was the Biggorons that held the key to the siege. The trebuchet remained behind, to reinforce the rear guard.

The horns blasted in the prearranged signal, and over a thousand feet began to move, slowed by the winding path.

"So it begins, eh?" Donovan said, smiling sickly at the sheikah beside him.

Impa glanced at him impassively, "The beginning of the end, you mean."

"And so the circle is complete," Donovan said, feeling oddly philosophical. They had fled down this path seven years ago together, with the princess, fleeing Ganon… now the four of them would be within the castle again soon… to pick up where they had left off. Impa did not respond. Such talk was foolish. What was, _was_… and what would be, _would be_. Nervous chatter would not change such things.

((()))

"Incoming!" someone screamed, and the veterans raised their shields, as flaming arrows launched from the battlements of the castle, to hang suspended, before beginning their deadly plunge. The armos ignored the barrage, beyond spreading out, and locking their shields overhead, which the puny creatures that had been designated as allies by the heir, took cover beneath, hiding their fleshy bodies from the hail.

Darunia reached out, and touched the flames upon the arrows with his mind.

_Burn, _he thought gleefully, and the missiles ignited, until only iron arrow heads tumbled through the air, clattering off shields and flesh, though some still caused death and injury.

"Alright, crack that gate!" Darunia bellowed, pointing. The three biggorons ambled forward, each carrying trimmed tree trunks like clubs on their shoulders. Darunia hung back. He'd promised to let them have some fun first. Biggorons had to restrain themselves and their power, so it was nice to be able to let loose once in a while, and really take a _swing_ at something. After wielding the Megaton, Darunia understood the frustration of the Biggorons better than he had. Juvag was the first to reach the gates, and took his club up in both hands, before swinging at the gates. A titanic rumble shook the ground around the castle, as the tree shattered within Juvag's hands… and the gate did not. Now Billag and Korag arrived, conducting a quick game of stone-parchment-knife, to see which of the twin brothers would go next. During all of this, the arrows continued to rain down on the rebel army, but the shelter of the armos proved exceptional. Even though the two veteran companies of warriors were still in the open, their discipline had proven up to the task of maintaining a durable shield wall, while moving to take advantage of the Armos's canopy of shields. Add to that Darunia's pyromaniacal tendencies, and the army was being rained on by lumps of sharp iron. Was this really the best Ganon could do? Donovan wondered, or was he simply toying with them?

((()))

"The giants can pound upon those gates as long as they may wish. They will not fall to the likes of _them_," Ganon laughed, his scrying globe filling most of the throne room.

Zelda watched mutely from her mother's throne, studying the army arrayed to save her. She was… touched… by the sentiment… but she needed to be here. The intertwining fates had told her such.

"Look. They give up already, they are smarter than I judged," Ganon sneered, as the three large gorons stepped away from the castle gates… and a normal sized goron approached, with a large hammer balanced arrogantly on his shoulder. About his throat a small red object winked.

"A hammer? Such toys will prove no better against my enchantments," Ganon predicted.

_The Medallion of Fire. So this must be Darunia… and that is the Megaton_, Zelda thought, studying the approaching warrior with interest. She had received reports of the weapon's power from Sheik… but she wished to see it in action.

((()))

Arrow heads poked Darunia's skin, as he continued to incinerate the projectiles during his stroll to the gates. _Not even a moat._ Still, if you were the most powerful big-bad boss, you would probably get lax too.

"Knock-knock!" Darunia yelled gleefully, hauling the Megaton back… and swung.

((()))

The magic of the scrying globe was temporarily disrupted for a moment… and Zelda felt the stones beneath her throne shudder for a second. Dust had also obscured the gates. When it cleared, it showed a goron scratching his jaw, and staring up at the gates… which had bent in slightly, with cracks running through the mortared stones.

"The _megaton_," Ganon spat angrily. He threw out a hand, and the gates flowed like water, reforming without any dents, and the walls lost their cracks.

"It would seem you _do_ have something to fear," Zelda noted. She barely felt the dark lord's slap.

_Not yet… but soon_, she thought… soon her charade would end, and her battle would begin… but not yet.

((()))

"Well… I guess I could keep hitting the gates," Darunia proposed, "See if he can keep up with me?"

Donovan considered the idea. He glanced at Saria and Impa, but neither woman seemed apposed to the plan.

"Go ahead, Darunia," Donovan sighed.

The goron grinned, showing his tomb-stone shaped teeth, before jogging back towards the gates.

"I suspect it will be hard to talk in a moment," Saria noted wryly. No one saw the gesture she made to the demon beside her.

((()))

"Persistent," Zelda said, as the scrying globe continued to flicker in time with the blows of the Fire Sage. Ganon held his hand up now, and sweat was beginning to bead on his brow. The Triforce of Power increased its bearer's power a thousand fold… but it did not make them a god… it merely gave them the mindset of one. The Megaton was taxing Ganon. Soon the man's pride would break, and he would dispose of the Fire Sage in some fashion… but not yet.

((()))

Mido clambered up the side of the castle, leading a handpicked team of skull kids and kokiri to the battlements, as Darunia's unwitting diversion continued. Mido reached the top, and froze, listening. He could hear the clack of bones, the gibbering squeaks of bokoblins and the deeper grunts of moblins… but all he could smell was the reek of death. Mido signaled the other warriors, and waited until the other twenty were in position, just below the battlements.

((Now)) Mido signaled with his closed fist.

The diminutive warriors went unnoticed by the monsters, who were too busy firing arrows at the army below to pay attention to their surroundings. Poisoned blades and barbed arrows quietly found unguarded flesh, as the kokiri slowly crept along behind the Dark Man's forces. They took the ones at the rear, who would not be noticed, but like the spread of a forest, continued to slowly advance, as they murdered the enemy one by one…

Until a bokoblin with no arrows left turned, to find more ammunition, and found itself snout to mask with a kokiri. It managed to scream, a little, before it began to drown in its own blood, but the damage had been done. The moblins, bokoblins, and stalfoes turned, disorientated by the carpet of dead comrades behind them, but not so much that they did not retaliate.

Mido lost two of the slower kokiri, before his team could scatter, and disappear among the shadows and twisted battlements. Then began _the game_. Some monsters fled down the stair cases, to bring forth reinforcements, some returned to firing at the army below… and the more foolish enemies ventured forth into the darkness, to root out the kokiri, and kill them.

Mido fired an arrow, which lodged in the knee of a bokoblin. The creature began to scream shrilly, which covered any noise the kokiri flanking their own targets might have made. Blades flashed, drawing blood, but often unable to kill, however, the wielder of the blades were rarely seen for longer than a second, before disappearing into hiding again. In this way, over seventy of the enemy died, harassed and confused, following darting shapes and retreating figures across the battlements. Mido lost another warrior to a lucky (and blind) swing from a moblin. Then the reinforcements arrived with torches… and the kokiri slipped back onto the walls, carrying their dead… as well as the arrows and bows of the enemy.

((()))

Donovan watched, nonplussed, as a small column of forest demons slipped into view, each heavily burdened. When they were closer, the knight recognized the objects being carried. Bows, and quivers. Dozens of them.

"Where?" Donovan breathed, confused.

Saria pointed to the top of the castle mutely, in answer.

"Saria, where should we take these?" one demon asked.

The forest sage shrugged, "They're too big for us, give them to the hylians in the city below."

((()))

"The enemy comes," Ruto observed. A black squiggle on the horizon was the first sign of the approaching monsters… but there were _many_ creatures. She heard hylians begin to blow horns, signaling the alarm from the walls behind them.

"Standard tactics," Ruto ordered, and Prince Rulias smiled briefly, his eyes drawing heat to her cheeks, before he bowed, and turned to his fellow guardsmen, relaying her commands… and just like that, three hundred warriors disappeared below the water without a trace.

((()))

"Burt, where'd the zora go?" Samuel asked, peeking over the ramparts.

"Keep you fool head down," Burt grumbled, tugging the young man's tunic forcefully, shoving the idiot behind cover.

"They're still there. I can see shadows in the water," Ian offered, scaring the hell out of his father, who hadn't realized the proximity of Ian.

"I thought you went to the castle," Burt said.

"We did. We killed some monsters, and took their weapons. Saria sent us to give them to you… since we're too small to use them," Ian said, holding out a crude looking bow, with a quiver of shoddy arrows.

"I've never fired a bow before, son," Burt reminded Ian. The boy jerked his masked head towards the oncoming horde, "Fire into that. You're bound to hit something," he suggested.

It wasn't very reassuring. One of the trebuchet crews called out, and part of a destroyed stone wall sailed overhead, at the rapidly growing figures… and crushed half a score as it rolled on impact. There was a cheer from farther left on the wall, and numbers were called back to the trebuchet crew, which couldn't actually see their targets. Unfortunately, as Ian had pointed out, even firing blind, they were bound to hit something.

A few of the gorons had been posted to assist the trebuchet crews, namely transporting ammunition to the slings, which tripled the rate of fire that would have normally been possible.

Burt still couldn't make out individual monsters in the approaching horde, but most were more or less humanoid in shape.

"How many do you think is out there?" Samuel asked, since his eyes were somewhat weak. Burt didn't really have a head for numbers, but he was good at guessing acreage of a field, for determining crop yields. The enemy was pretty densely packed, which slowed them to a crawl, but also kept the ones in front from fleeing. The enemy filled most of the plains in front of the city… and the number wasn't very reassuring.

"Fifty, maybe sixty," Burt estimated.

"Hundred? That doesn't sound right," Samuel argued.

"_Thousand_," Burt grunted.

Most of the shapes were white… probably stalfos. Nothing stayed dead, like it should, when the Dark Man was involved, Burt thought bitterly.

((()))

"Kitake. Deal with the upstart," Ganon hissed. Zelda saw a withered hag with disturbing blue eyes bow low, and begin to waddle from the room.

"You send old women to do battle on your behalf?" Zelda asked politely, but if Ganon heard her, he gave no sign.

((()))

Darunia kept up his steady rhythm, like he was back in the mines… this was just a particularly troublesome ore seam. Nothing special. He heard insane cackling, and looked up, just in time to see a wrinkly gerudo on a flying _broomstick_, of all things, swoop down at him. The goron raised the Megaton, and waited, calmly, for her to come within range. He'd swat her aside before she rammed him.

Except, she broke off, when she was only ten meters away, and threw a blizzard at him. Darunia had enough time to open his mouth, but not to swear, before the curse hit him.

Ares snarled, and threw a lance of shadow magic at the witch, furious, that they had lost one of the sages… and Ares had _liked_ the uncouth goron. His antics made her smile… and she had not smiled for almost seven years. The witch threw a counter-curse at her attack, dispelling it into a nimbus of dust, before attempting to freeze the Sheikah solid, if the young warrior hadn't been so agile, the gerudo might have succeeded.

((()))

Malka looked up from where she had been treating a hapless fool for shrapnel to his shoulder, when she felt the wylde magic on the air… and it didn't owe service to her.

"Keep pressure on this bandage," the witch told one of the orderlies, leaving the idiot in the young woman's care. She had an errand to run. Malka took one of the bedrolls with her, as she walked outside…

((()))

"Ladders!" someone screamed, and Burt paused in mid motion, with an arrow on the string of the bow. He risked a quick peek, and saw that yes, the enemy did have ladders… or rather, long poles with handles sticking out from the sides. One pole came to rest beside an armos. The statue set down its club, and grabbed the pole, but instead of pushing it off, the golem began to pull, hand over hand. It took the pole, as well as seven stalfoes clinging to the far end, and tossed it into the courtyard behind it.

_Well, I guess that's one way to get rid of a ladder…_ Burt thought. The goron loaders dealt with the stalfoes quickly, by hitting them with really big rocks. Even as Burt watched though, one of the hastily constructed trebuchet failed. The long throwing arm splintered, from the repeated strain that had been placed upon it in the last hour… pieces of wood tumbled, and men dove for safety. A few were hit by the heavy objects, and did not rise from where they fell. The surviving siege engines continued to propel stones out into the air, to crush the uncounted thousands that swarmed the opposite side of the moat… but it was only a matter of time before they too failed.

((()))

Ruto propelled herself up from the water, her serrated fins scattering the monsters on the flimsy ladder, into the water below, which frothed and seethed with the murderous motions of her hidden warriors. Some monsters survived the crossing, to die (or be disassembled) on the battlements by hylian soldiers and armos. The little shrub-people on the battlements were spitting a near constant stream of stones into the front ranks of the enemy, particularly at the bases of the ladders, hampering the progress of the climbers. The force of the projectiles was sufficient to break bones (especially the exposed bones of the stalfoes).

A zora screamed, head tail clutched by a stalfos, which reeled the struggling warrior up onto dry ground, where fangs and clubs descended upon the aquatic warrior. Her guardsmen killed monsters in the dozens, and the hundreds… but every minute, fewer and fewer fins cut through the waters of the moat… the pressure from the enemy only increased. _We are losing_, Ruto realized.


	15. Chapter 15 Unto the Edge of Twilight

Mido halted one of the skull kids, and used a strip of cloth to tightly bind the gash on the black skinned girl's back. "You don't have a faerie," Mido reminded the former child. The skull kid shrugged, but bared her sharp teeth when Mido drew the binder tight, stopping the blood. They healed faster than a kokiri, but nowhere nearly as quickly as a faerie.

_The game_, had changed. The children of the Deku tree were still climbing the castle, to reach the top, but wholesale slaughter was not the goal. Now the prize was far simpler. Weapons. Knives that could cut throats could slice the straps of quivers for theft, or lame the strings of enemy bows. The monsters were growing quite cross in fact, especially the moblins, who had serious issues with short tempers to begin with. There was an almost constant stream of skull kids and kokiri darting to the base of the wall, to recover weapons or quivers of arrows dropped by forest demons at the top. Then the courier would grab up a bundle, and take the winding path to the city below, to replenish, or arm the hylians on the wall… although most of the rebel archers were no longer on the walls, simply firing arrows over the top, to rain down on the unseen enemy. Unfortunately, some of the horde had ranged weapons too… and were returning the favor. Many archers were hiding inside the doorways of buildings, or standing at windows, only exposing themselves for the second it took to release their strings, and send another arrow flying. The defenders were far fewer, and the chances of someone being hit far lower than that of the horde… but Mido could see motionless shapes dotted amid the tumbles of rubble and the occasional building.

The gorons loading the trebuchets were the most stoic about the whole affair. Many had arrows sticking out of them, but Mido doubted the shafts had penetrated more than an inch… which probably stung, but wouldn't do any lasting damage to the thick skinned creatures. Kokiri darted among them, plucking the sharp nuisances from the lumbering pincushions, to present to the rebel archers, as well as arrows that protruded from the rubble.

Mido winced, as a trebuchet's crossbar snapped, letting the throwing arm fall free… to tumble and hit a second trebuchet's supports, toppling the second weapon as well. Several hylians were crushed to death, although one trapped goron appeared to be extricating himself from under the fallen throwing arm. That only left two trebuchet in operation. Judging by the gestures of the goron loaders, the fools were attempting to jury rig a working trebuchet out of the two broken ones.

"Sir knight, we need to send a biggoron or two down to hold the wall," Saria said.

The armored man looked away from the castle, and the magic duel being carried out by the gerudo witch, and Aris. The young woman was clinging to the castle wall like a spider, hurling spears and darts of unwholesome magic at her more agile and airborne enemy. The counter blasts from the witch forced Aris to jump and scrabble for handholds and new positions frequently, while the biggorons swatted and flailed ineffectually at the witch-gnat.

"I can't… without the biggorons, the witch will be able to concentrate, and hit Aris," Donovan snarled. The Sheikah wasn't _that_ fast.

Then something blasted past the huddled group… and Donovan stared in disbelief.

((()))

Madam Malka sat cross legged on the bedroll, as her cantrips wriggled and sang through the rough flax threads. Wind whipped her thin hair about her head wildly, as the wylde witch bore down on the _imitator_. The desert hag's grammar was crude, and her accent terrible. Many of the spells were badly phrased, and horribly inefficient. And the _broomstick_. It was too embarrassing a gaffe… too inefficient, too sloppy.

Malka would enjoy teaching the pretender what a _real_ witch could do. She was still weak from the interloper's attacks… but she had enough skill, to cancel the differences in raw power between them.

The gerudo witch iced a section of wall that Aris was jumping to, and the shadow warrior flailed, sinking claws of shadow into the ice and stone, to save herself. In that brief second of immobility, the hag struck, sending another blast of winter at the shadow warrior. Malka easily threaded a cantrip through the hag's invocation, taking advantage of several loopholes in the wording of the spell… and Aris was hit by a small horde of wriggling m_ice_. The sheikah stared at the creatures, as they scurried and fell from her to the ground below, nonplussed.

The hag was furious… and confused. Clearly, she didn't understand, that a witch's power was not a solo… but a chorus. The magic was given life with words, but it could be shaped by _anyone's _words, not just the caster. Any spell of wylde magic was vulnerable to tampering during its casting. Since there were so few left that knew the old ways… this hack-job witch probably hadn't known about that.

Malka halted her carpet, and began a working of her own. The hag's head whipped around, and stared in disbelief. The hag snarled out a brief, six word enchantment, which Malka derailed in the fourth word with a subtle addition of punctuation, before continuing her carefully structured spell, locking line after line, each reinforcing the next, so although she had begun with a mere wisp of power, her spell was beginning to grow in leaps and bounds.

The hag finished her spell, unaware of the alteration, and instead of Malka bursting into flames, a pot, fresh from the kiln, and recently _fired_, fell from the hag's hand, to hit the ground below. It had been an ugly, lopsided pot, so Malka felt no regrets.

The hag was frightened now. Apparently, she had never faced an opponent that could twist her spells back upon her. In other words, the hag had never fought an opponent that could best her.

Malka had a sliver of power left from the interloper.

It was enough.

Finally, the ninety-ninth line of the interlocking spell rolled from Malka's tongue, and the magical energy that had deadened the air with its quivering anticipation was loosed. The hag had no means of fighting, for her knowledge of the Olde tongue was stilted and childish, enough to form crude sentences… but little more.

_Charlatan_, Malka sniffed, as the hag writhed and contorted on a broomstick that had become a desert cactus of equal size. The hag tried to leap from her tormentor, but a pair of desert vipers erupted from the cactus, and latched on, tethering the witch to the cactus by her wrists, while also pumping their venom into her.

The best part was coming though.

Tiny shapes erupted from holes in the cactus, and soon the witch was covered in a writhing carpet of red shapes, each no longer than a fingernail. Warrior ants, also creatures of the gerudo desert, with a nasty reputation for stripping meat from bones. The hag crashed into the ground, rolling and kicking at her attackers.

Malka continued to watch, as the ants devoured the hag's eyes, each bite removed no larger than a grain of rice. Malka resettled herself on the floating bedroll, into a more comfortable position, and watched her handiwork. All this came from the amount of power it would take to light a candle.

The sheikah watched the display silently, their eyes unmoved by the pitiful screams. They were of the shadows. Then the earth shook, and a large lump of ice shattered, revealing a very frostbitten goron.

"Where is she?" the snow-blind creature howled, brandishing his massive hammer, "I'm gonna squish that desert bitch!"

He heard the screams and became deathly still. The howls were similar to the shriek he'd heard before the really cold stuff had frozen him solid. Except for one problem. He was the physical embodiment of _fire_. It had taken a while to get enough wiggle room to tap the ice with the megaton… too long.

Darunia blindly closed on the source of the screams, until he was close enough to scent the creature. Now certain of his target's identity, Darunia reached down into the writhing mass, until his large fingers found the witch's head… and he popped her skull between his finger and thumb, much like a hylian would a pimple.

"Now, will someone _please_ point me towards the damned door?" he bellowed. He couldn't smell or hear a door.

((()))

"So much for your nursemaid. Kitake, was it?" Zelda sniffed. Ganon looked up at her, and she saw real fury there… and pain, too. _Ah… so you do have a heart. _Then the man whispered a word, and Zelda felt something large and rotten fill the air, before dissipating like smoke. What it was, Zelda did not know… but she suspected she would find out, soon.

((()))

"Fall back, behind the walls" Ruto panted, two score warriors heeded the command. The rest floated lifelessly within the waters of the moat, many in several pieces, which reminded her of seven years ago, the guards in Jabu-Jabu's belly.

She had come far since then. Very far. With a snarl, the woman barred her teeth, the interlocking rows of pegs grinding audibly. More importantly, the power Ruto cried for answered her call. The river that fed the moat continued to flow, but Ruto had blocked the drain that led beneath the cliffs. Water began to rise above the walls of the moat, without spilling out into the blackened dirt, held in place by Ruto's will. Higher and higher the water rose, retaining the dimensions of the moat… until it was twice the height of the stone wall behind it. She no longer stood of her own power, gentle hands held her upright, but her mind was too far afield to notice. The power of a Sage sang to her, and she made her wishes known. The water braced itself, and froze. Then Ruto was unconscious, and Prince Rulias held his betrothed gently against his bleeding chest.

((()))

Juvag was the first to reach the bottom, because he checked to make sure no one stood below, and jumped, forgoing the winding path altogether. He raised a cloud of thick dust upon landing, but this was inconsequential, as he scooped up two handfuls of boulders, and hurled them over the top of the ice wall. Billag and Korag, always the more cautious of the three, would spend ten minutes walking down the path. They would miss the fun.

((()))

Donovan appraised the wall of frozen water. He judged the barrier would likely last until sundown. It was too tall for ladders, and too slippery to climb… but it was also too high for the trebuchets to fire over, since it was too close. The biggorons didn't mind, since they stood beside the wall, and chucked boulders overhead, to land among the horde.

"Carry out repairs on the trebuchets, and put the peasants to work, find Impa, she'll be able to direct you on what needs doing," Donovan told one of the scouts, distracted. Darunia was back at it, testing the strength of the doors.

((()))

Link glanced over his shoulder, during one of the rest periods, where the horses were watered and grazed. Outriders had begun to return, accompanied by mounted warriors from the clans that had moved to Hyrule. They had started with three thousand gerudo. Link was now looking at four times that number, with more clans arriving every hour, following the mounted host's trail as they encountered it. They were a day's ride from the castle, very near to Lon Lon Ranch, actually. The host would pass within five miles of it.

Navi was tired of hiding in Link's hair though. She'd been hidden for so long, that she'd actually woven his hair into a proper nest at the nape of his neck… and Link had not washed his hair in some time… Navi could also sense the Lady's impatience. She had not been wielded against the enemy for several weeks… and had grown… restless.

((()))

The reprieve granted by the Water sage had not been wasted. The biggorons had gathered stockpiles of rubble to be near at hand, and the trebuchet crews of the _three_ operational siege weapons had repositioned the weapons, distancing themselves from each other, as well as moving much farther back, and out of range of the arrows. Covered awnings snaked through the half leveled city, paths (mostly) safe from arrows. The provisions had been moved back to the rear gate, which led to the castle road, but it was beyond the range of the horde. Cooking fires had already begun to flicker in the darkness, and the smells of food wafted in the dead air. Men on construction detail traded off with the men who had slept, and got some food to eat…

In many ways, a small city had sprung up within the broken city, in a matter of hours. Of course, the busiest place was the hospit, where the injured gathered in ever increasing numbers… and all the while, the ice wall melted.

Two hours before true night, fighters returned to the walls, and prepared themselves to fight anew, as the ice had become only two paces thick, and was almost level with the top of the stone battlements. Some of the more foolhardy actually mounted the tops of the coronels, treating the ice as the new wall, while it lasted, calling out ranges and observations to the archers below.

Kokiri wove through the city, collecting enemy arrows, and turning them over to the weary men who took it in shifts to send the bolts skyward. Many had never held a bow before today. There was no skill involved, it was merely another physical labor to undertake, like reaping a field, or gathering wood. Many of the enemy staves or strings had failed from the constant strain, because once one man became exhausted he would pass his bow to the next man in line. These lines became longer, as the number of bows dwindled, and rests became longer. Every now and again, an intact string of a broken stave would be strung upon an intact stave whose string had failed… but the quality of the weapons was poor, most of the staves were barely seasoned, a few were even made of green wood. Most had no working to them, little more than murdered saplings that had been conditioned for a few weeks, before a hasty string was attached.

The men had fallen into a routine. Some even told jokes, as the siege within a siege continued. They had provisions for two weeks. Many were optimistic in thinking that by the time the rations had been exhausted, Darunia would have the gates shattered, and Ganon's head would be mounted on a pike.

Then night was upon them, and Ganon gave them a taste of his plans.

It was then that the keese came.

The flock descended, swarming the soldiers and peasants. Many of the keese dove into the cooking fires, to emerge as flaming missiles of pure malice, spreading fires among the provisions, and the men, catching clothing and hair alight… but the majority of their brethren simply fell upon every inch of exposed flesh they could find, biting and clawing.

Impa and the rest of the sheikahs threw out nets and storms of death, for night was their time of power, but it seemed that the three could not keep up with the abnormally intelligent bats. For every keese that fell, four more took its place.

Men rolled on the ground, crushing the fragile bodies, even as they bled.

The deku scrubs were ignored by the keese, but the plant-men had exhausted most of their internal caches, and busily combed the rubble, swallowing small stones as quickly as they could to rearm. The skull kids likewise found themselves in scarce supply of porcupine quills and poison, forced to use the sharp ends of their flutes to skewer the bats around them. The gorons were more or less immune to the claws and teeth, clapping their hands together, squishing hapless keese around them like giant mosquitoes. The armos were similarly unaffected, and mimicked their creator's approach to keese extermination.

Amid the blood and the death, of that first night, the small, fledgling army might have been swallowed up… if not for the saplings.

Saria, Sage of the Forest, and the first of the Great Deku Tree's Kokiri children was nearly as old as the Great Deku Tree…

And she was angry.

The trees responded to her power, and the saplings grew to colossal proportions, some nearly twice the height of a biggoron… and from the skeletal branches leaves did not sprout.

Deku babas emerged, their sightless maws snapping and gobbling down keese.

The survivors rallied, fleeing to the shadows of the monstrous trees… and Saria watched her children feast upon the enemy… and the trees grew larger, no longer drawing from her, but from the blood and magic of their food.

((()))

Donovan wearily inspected the camp. Hundreds of militia had been taken to the hospit, most had been flayed alive, clinging to life despite the pain. Most would not live to see the dawn. Everywhere he looked, Donovan saw sightless eyes in bloody faces. He wouldn't know how bad the losses had been, not for several hours. He knew that a large portion of the provisions had been lost to the flaming keese… not just food. Bandages, arrows, tents… it seemed though, that what food remained would last, Donovan thought bitterly, since there were so many fewer mouths to feed.

"The forest will provide for you, sir knight," Saria said softly at his elbow, and Donovan saw a curious sight. The deku babas had opened their mouths… and small brown objects began to fall in piles like acorns…

"Deku seeds," Saria said calmly, "There is little taste, but it is filling."

Donovan smiled, as the demon squeezed his hand, like a child, comforting _him_.

"So many contradictions," Donovan whispered. _Immortal children, innocent killers…_

((()))

Eight hundred men died in the first hour of the Keese's attack. Another thousand succumbed to their wounds in the following three hours… and the wall of ice had nearly vanished. All of the armos stood upon the wall, or choked the gateway… but the statues were not invincible. They could be shattered, they could be chipped… and slowly, the automatons were beginning to fail. Clubs and maces began to take a toll upon the sturdy defenders, while the living hastily organized their defenses.

It became apparent, however, that Ganon did not care about efficiency, only about _demonstrations_… as the second plague struck. Objects began to rain from the black clouds, and then the screaming began, as the hail of golden spiders swelled in size from apples to small dogs… and began to attack. Despite their size, they were far less numerous than the keese had been… and _due_ to their size, the scattered and bleeding survivors had far less difficulty defending themselves. A zora staggered past Burt, stabbing its fins into the skulltulla clamped to his chest, and the large man grabbed the beast, and pulled it off, crushing it between his hands. The zora collapsed into convulsions as the venom began to spread. Everywhere the golden spiders fought and were destroyed…

But men and women still died.

((()))

Donovan flicked ichor off his sword, and leaned against one of Saria's massive trees, his sides heaving. He'd been fighting for several hours… and the Armos had begun to buckle. More and more monsters were gaining the walls before they could be killed, physically pushing the stone automatons back, creating beachheads. As Donovan watched, he saw an armored Moblin throw itself at an Armos, taking both creatures off the battlements, to crash to the hard stones below. The broken Moblin did not rise, but the Armos had lost a leg at the knee, and an arm at the shoulder, shattered by the fall… and was now essentially useless.

Too many… Donovan's eyes fell upon a twisted shape, only a few feet from him. The boy had been barely a man, the knight saw, old enough to pick up a spear for the cause, and to die, but not to shave. Donovan scowled, and lifted his sword, wading back out into the slaughter, he'd rested enough.

((()))

"We have lost the wall, but still hold the gate," Impa grunted, tying off a hasty bandage across her belly, staunching the blood from the shallow claw tracks. (Shallow, as in they had not pierced _muscle_). The damned spiders were dead at least, Donovan thought. Wind began to shriek, and the knight looked up, _now what?_ He saw hundreds of bobbing purple lights in the sky… as they approached, he felt the blood leave his face.

"Poes," Impa grunted, her eyes glowing, as she observed the invisible foes, which held the bobbing lanterns.

"We cannot fight _spirits_," Donovan hissed.

"Perhaps for _you_, but _we_ can," Impa said, drawing death and darkness to her hands. There were too many though… the lanterns appeared to fill the sky like stars.

"Three sheikah, against _that?_" Donovan barked impotently.

"No. Those of my tribe that remained loyal to your kings, we swore an oath of service, unto death and even beyond. My kinsmen come," Impa said, feeling Sheik's approach.

There was an imbalance of power at the heart of castle town, and men cried out as shadows leapt and curled like dark flames of a forest fire. With a soundless implosion, the heart of the rebels expanded… and over two hundred forms stood within. They wore the uniform of the sheikah, but the cloth was faded and ripped. At the very center, Sheik rose from her crouch, and screamed three words in the tongue of death and shadow.

_((For the King))_

Two hundred dead throats repeated the oath, and the Sheikah stiffly rolled their joints, loosening the temporary shadow flesh they now wore, to uphold their oaths. These were not ReDeads. These were simply the enchanted bones of the long dead, given flesh by the power of the Shadow Sage… and the spirits of Sheikah that had long passed.

They were fully aware… and they were deadly serious.

The Poes descended upon the army. Spirits of murder and malice met revenants of unfulfilled oaths and slaughter.

Donovan roared out orders, pulling his remaining men into something that might pass for a block formation, giving the Sheikah room to work. Black garbed shapes leapt and tumbled, slashing with swords and knives, chain and dart, whips and bows. They educated the Poes on the difference between _invincible _and _invisible_.

At the center of it all, Donovan saw the four living Sheikah unite. Aris, Lito, and Impa had joined hands in a triangle. At the center, Sheik stood, her hands moving rapidly, through intricate patterns too fast to discern, and shadows leapt to her call, great blades of darkness that reaped lanterns with wild abandon, or strange monsters that would appear for a moment, to clamp jaws upon a lantern and crush it, before exploding back into mist… and through it all, a lattice of darkness stretched over the huddled army, which no Poe could pass.

The armos still fought on the walls and at the gate, but they did not live, and as such, could not be harmed by a poe.

Donovan saw one of the dead shadow warriors fall, pulled in half between a pair of Poes. The Sheikah were unmatched… but they were outnumbered.

((()))

Saria walked, letting seeds fall from her hands. Her friends also spread seeds across the castle, in the rubble and the streets, while the hylians cowered beneath the shield of the Sheikah. No Poe dared approach, not with so many faeries present, unable to endure their light.

"We are ready," Mido reported to his mate, but she already knew. As one, the surviving children of the forest converged upon their sage, and she sat, cross legged. She had also summoned the Sage of water.

"Bring the rain," Saria whispered, as she wove her power through the earth, connecting dirt and seeds, as one.

Honest rain began to fall, a gentle, warm downpour, as Ruto knelt, focusing her power into the clouds above.

And_ Life _came forth.

Green shoots uncurled from seeds, stretching for the sky… and Darunia roared, fist overhead… and a single gap appeared in the clouds, as the Sage of Fire called to the Sun itself… and his power was able to annul part of Ganon's spell, for a time.

Long enough for a forest to grow within walls of stone… and the Poes retreated, unable to enter the domain of the forest, forbidden by their very natures.

The sheikah that survived stood motionless, waiting for the next threat to appear.

The last of the Armos fell beneath the uncounted hordes of monsters, which began to pour into the forest, uncontested…

But the Kokiri taught them fear, beneath the gentle, curling branches.

This was _their_ forest.

((()))

Malon reigned up at the head of the host, upon the last hill that overlooked Castle town. The same hill Link had witnessed the Gerudo attack upon Castle town from, seven years ago.

_And now, the Gerudo will return, once more_, Link thought grimly.

There was a large horde of various enemies however, still clogging the plains around the city.

"Prepare to attack," Malon said.

((()))

"Your army is doomed," Ganon snorted, "Trapped by my minions, as I rain death upon them… and now my people have come as well, drawn by the scent of conquest. Whatever flicker of hope you might have had is gone."

"You see little, King of Nothing. Your Power has blinded you to your weaknesses, and dulled your senses," Zelda said coldly, her hair stirring restlessly in a wind that did not blow in _this_ world. Ganon squinted at her thoughtfully, before looking back at the host of his kin.

"There is _always_ hope," Zelda pronounced, with the finality of an executioner. Her time was near at hand. _Soon_.

((()))

Over the shrieks and screams of dying monsters under the gloom of the trees, Donovan heard another sound, that shook him to the core: Thousands of horns blown in unison. Three blasts, then two bursts.

The Hylian signal for a cavalry charge… but Donovan had no cavalry left, even the goats had fallen in defense of the gate.

"What do you see?" Donovan called to Impa, who teleported atop Juvak's head.

"A great host of Gerudo. They fall upon the horde from the rear, and the flanks. I sense the Ocarina of Time is among them," Impa reported.

((()))

"_What is this?"_ Ganon thundered, rising to his feet. His people… they _must_ obey, he was their man!

"Even your people recognize the evil you have done," Zelda whispered, her nagging voice enraging him. Only by the barest of margins did he withhold his full power, so that the kick simply knocked her cold, instead of turning her ribcage to pulp. He summoned his magics to him, dipping into the well of his Triforce, to fuel his working.

((()))

Taraya stayed at Nolamar's left flank, protecting the talented archer as they strafed the flanks of their enemy, shearing off thin slices of the horde with every pass. Kiln held a bow of his own, and though his shots were less accurate, he fired more often than his master. The Gerudo had broken into clans, after the initial surprise attack, which had crushed thousands beneath their hooves. They had ridden six ranks into the enemy, wheeled, and retreated, leaving only a handful of their own unfortunate dead behind. The monsters turned then, and set their defenses against the unexpected treachery… but the damage had been severe, killing nearly a fifth of the horde.

Now the Gerudo had broken down into clans and tribes, harassing the flanks of the enemy in small roving bands. Nearly half of the Gerudo rested their horses, while the rest attacked. This kept the women from crowding each other, as well as rationing the strength of their steeds, especially after so grueling a ride.

Taraya saw Kiln's horse step into a hole of the small, burrowing rodents that infested the plains… and break its leg, throwing the knight like an arrow from his saddle. The same fate that had befallen _her_ horse. To her shock, the knight contorted and twisted as he flew, to land in a controlled roll, instead of headfirst, though it still knocked the breath from him.

"_Link!"_ Nolamar screamed, no doubt the knight's Hylian name. The knight dusted himself off, and shook his head to clear it. Nolamar wheeled, riding hard for her man. Bokoblins had begun to fire arrows at the semi-stationary target. Taraya and Nikaru kicked their horses, rushing to their leader's aid. The knight scrambled up into the saddle behind Nolamar, though he had lost his bow in the tumble, while Nikaru and Taraya fired shafts back at the diminutive monsters.

((()))

"Stand your ground," Donovan growled hoarsely, raising his blade once again, as the enemy trickled through the trees, those that the Kokiri did not maim in their passage. The surviving veterans had formed up with the militia, bolstered by the gorons and the three biggorons. The rebels had fallen back to the gate that led to the castle… the only patch of clear ground within the walls, made so by Juvag and his brothers.

"Hey, daddy," a voice whispered, scaring the shit out of Burt _again_.

"Ian. Please, stop doing that," the big man sighed. His demon boy giggled, sitting on the shoulders of the goron behind Burt. With worry, the man saw several shallow cuts on his son's left shoulder, as well as a puncture wound to the right calf.

"Ian, be careful," Burt said sternly.

"I am," his son laughed, before vaulting off the oblivious goron, and bounding into the trees once more.

"Something is coming," Impa hissed to Donovan, readying her magic weaves.

Deep below, something groaned, as that which could not endure the power brought to bear against it let go… and the earth twisted and split.

Donovan fell to his knees, as the rumble drowned out all other noise, feeling as if it had taken root within his ears, a physical presence. Only the Biggorons remained standing. Kokiri fell from trees, their cries drowned out by the incredible thunder of the ground. The trees swayed violently, and Donovan saw that the walls were beginning to crack, and collapse. Stones rained down on the sprawled rebels closest to the walls, crushing the unlucky ones.

Then the earth split in two, a massive crack that ran through the center of the town, under the gate, and out into the field. Trees toppled into the chasm, some with children of the forest still clinging to them. Monsters screamed and fell as well.

((()))

Link fought to his feet, as the earth stilled beneath his boots. Horses screamed, some with broken legs, others from fear, as they fought to right themselves. Gerudo had been crushed beneath their rolling beasts, others had vaulted clear. Some had been killed by flailing hooves. The majority rose fearfully, their shouts and calls filling the air.

"They despair, for what hope does steel have against a God?" Navi translated.

_Draw your blade only when secrecy is no issue. _

Taraya slit her dying horse's throat bitterly. Two horses… she dare not hope to ever be given a third. To her right, Nolamar's mare rose, snorting angrily, kicking at the dirt. _Ah, such spirit…_ Taraya admired. The leader of the Gerudo also rose, helped up by her slave. Kiln bent his head over Nolamar, resting his forehead against her shoulder.

"Do it," Nolamar commanded.

Kiln pulled the sheathed short sword from his waist, and tossed it aside. Then his fingers rose to the hilt by his shoulder… Taraya squinted, curiosity drawing her closer. With a ring like a bell made of clearest glass, the blade erupted from its scabbard, and light began to flare from it, illuminating the slave, and the woman beside him, a beacon beneath the black clouds and blasted earth.

_Through you, the power of sages may be wielded. _

Link held the Lady above his head, and Malon took hold of the Master sword's pommel, as the Gerudo looked on… and Link woke the dormant power that lay within his left hand, and a golden triangle began to shine within his flesh…

((()))

"He has come," Ganon breathed. The last piece of the Triforce… something was disrupting his veil, allowing sunlight to shine once more upon his traitorous people. At their heart… Ganon peered closer at the scrying globe…

It looked like a man, and a Gerudo… they held the Master sword overhead, rallying the traitors. _Fools_.

Ganon reached into the clouds of his veil, manipulating the energies, feeding, gorging, overloading it…

((()))

The light brightened, until a second sun shone beneath the veil, driving back the monsters, but drawing the Gerudo closer. At the heart their leader stood, with her slave… and a sword from legend. The blade without equal, that could slice through all but its own scabbard. Then the clouds roared, and the hammer of a God fell upon their leader, the explosion too bright to look upon.

Link screamed, as the energy of the lightning traveled down the Master sword, and was absorbed by his gauntlets… which promptly disintegrated the cloth wraps that covered them, as the reservoirs of the magical bracers filled to capacity. They could hold no more, and the lightning had not abated. With a shout, Link thrust his hand out, pointed at the horde of monsters… and the fury of Ganon writhed forth, blasting through his own servants.

Link held the sword steady, as a conduit for the power, which continued to flow through the sword, down his left arm, and out his right hand.

((()))

Ganon howled in frustration, as his own power was used to destroy his minions. Angrily, he cut off his spell, and the lightning faded, leaving only a fraction of his army outside the destroyed walls of the town. Very well… he would have to take a more… _active_ role… soon.

((()))

"What the hell was that? What happened?" Darunia demanded. He was _still_ blind. That hadn't changed in the last five minutes, so why wasn't anyone _describing_ what they saw?!

"Ganon threw lightning at the Gerudo. It did not kill them, instead, most of the horde has been killed," Impa called down to the impatient Sage.

"So he _missed_?" Darunia guffawed. That was just… perfect.

((()))

The gerudo formed up into a single united host once more, although many were now on foot, and would follow behind. The earth-shake had actually _helped_ the Gerudo… since the host of the enemy was now divided in half by the chasm. The gerudo charged, running down the disorganize survivors of the lightning strike on the left side of the chasm. The archers among them continued to pour shafts across the chasm at the monsters on the right, the six or seven thousand that still lived… although crossing the tumbled remains of the wall slowed the horses down to a crawl… and the demon forest within caused them to mill in fear. They remembered the losses of the campaign against the Black Forest… but Nolamar rode on, with her slave mounted behind her, his sword lighting the gloom beneath the trees as easily as the gloom of Ganondorf. Occasionally, one of the forest demons might be glimpsed, as it passed overhead, but no arrows landed upon the women, as they advanced beneath the trees.

((()))

"They're here," Impa said quietly. Donovan could hear the whiny and nickering of horses, so the information wasn't surprising. Before long, a line of women on horseback began to trickle out of the trees, into the small clearing, led by a man with a glowing sword.

"Ah, Hero…" Donovan grunted.

Malon looked down at the knight imperiously, "Speak to me, not my slave," she said harshly. Donovan scowled, but she was right.

"Nolamar, I take it?" he asked heavily.

"Correct," she said.

"We've taken casualties… but Kitake is dead."

News of the gerudo witch's death spread through the assembled women with something akin to relief.

"Hey, does anyone else feel that?" Darunia asked… then his blind eyes widened,

"FOREST SHANKERS! OUT'A THE TREES!" Link looked up, as something launched from the tower of the castle high above… out across the town, falling like a star among the trees… which exploded into a geyser of flame nearly as tall as the most massive trees. Horses and Gerudo screamed, as well as Kokiri, as the trees exploded into sullen flames.

Smoke choked the air, and figures staggered out of the trees, Kokiri and gerudo alike.

"Darunia, can you contain the fire?" Saria screamed, as her trees burned.

Her forest…

The goron scowled, and thrust out one of his enormous hands fingers straining to form a fist against some unseen opposition.

"_He_ won't _let me_," Darunia grunted. That is not to say the Sage of Fire had no success… but only ten percent of the trees closest to Darunia survived the blaze… it could have been worse for the gerudo. If they had not been slowed by the walls and trees, more would have been trapped within the forest when it combusted… but the great host was no more… the field of ash was littered with the blackened corpses of both horse and rider… too many…

Four thousand riders cautiously advanced across the rubble and ash, skirting their fallen sisters silently. Another thousand gerudo, the ones who had lost horses to misfortune, enemy spears and arrows, or the ground-quake, climbed the fallen walls, with the stragglers of Ganon's horde hard on their heels.

Their mounted sisters provided covering fire, even as Juvag lumbered out towards the fleeing women. He stopped at the gate though, for a moment, before he revealed his newest toy: one of the chains to the destroyed draw bridge. With a bellow that shook Link's teeth, the biggoron began to scythe the thick chain through the oncoming ranks of the enemy. Each of the heavy metal links was the same diameter as Link's _head_, and although blunt, it took the heads off the heaviest enemies, and bodily picked up and scattered the lighter ones.

Surviving rebels of the six tribes met, for a hasty council of war. Mido watched a heavily scarred wolfos push her head underneath Link's hand, and the boy idly scratched between the animal's ears. Fire had burned away a section of fur on her left haunch, leaving it blistered and red. They were interrupted though, by a very large man with a battle axe, who clung to the leader of the Gerudo, weeping openly, and loudly. Malon awkwardly patted her father on the back. _"I'm a Gerudo, remember, Papa_," Malon whispered.

"Right y'are girl, right you are," Talon hiccupped, letting go reluctantly. The gerudo looked at each other, before shrugging. Hylians were mad, it was well known.

There was a thin strand of young trees, perhaps thirty or forty feet in height with wide, sloping branches, roughly three trees thick, that formed a half circle around the clearing in front of the rear gate. Well, _crumbled_ rear gate. Saria was busy growing thorny vines, to wrap between the trees as crude barricades. Although the vines were woven thickly, they only rose five feet off the ground, well shy of the lowest branches, which rested at eight feet. Wolfos were digging behind the tree line, spraying dirt towards the wall of vines, where deku scrubs stamped it down into a semi-flat ramp, to allow the defenders to fight better behind the thorn barricades. Not to be outdone, when the gorons caught sight of the Kokiri's fortifications, they began to stack and pile the rubble and stones into basic ramparts, as a second line of defense. The walls weren't much higher than six feet, but the wall was only three feet high for defenders, again, granting better defensive options.

Juvag was still laying about with the chain, but eventually, he would be forced to retreat should his chain break, which would slow the rate with which he could kill, allowing himself to be surrounded, and possibly pulled down by ropes and teams.

"—Ganon is too powerful to kill by such methods," Impa was arguing, and Mido returned his attention to the argument. The knight was busy smacking a fist into his fingerless palm, no doubt for emphasis in his argument, or something similarly serious.

"Leave the army here. Only Sages, and the Hero have enough power to challenge Ganon directly," Impa hissed.

"Look out!" someone screamed, and everyone dove for cover… except for Juvag. The giant warrior turned, and saw the purple bolt speeding towards him. With a bellow, Juvag twisted to the side, and the bolt missed by a handsbreadth, arcing out across the enemy horde. Juvag smiled, swinging his chain through another rank of monsters, when the bolt swung around, and blasted through his back, and out of his chest.

"We don't have time to argue. The sooner we bust in, the less time Ganon has to slaughter our kinsfolk," Darunia snarled.

"Besides, someone must hold the horde at bay, while we deal with Ganon," Ruto pointed out diplomatically.

_"Damn…_" Donovan hissed, helplessly, as Juvag finally tottered, like a mountain, to crush the foe beneath his dying body, and shake the earth one last time. The monsters swarmed over and around the dead creature, like ants over the carcass of the mouse.

"To the wall!" Donovan roared, and those men that still drew breath grimly lifted their heavy weapons once more, the respite passed.

The monsters' ragged charge kicked up the ash into a choking cloud, almost giving the appearance that they had become figments of shadow and darkness. The hylian soldiers were not alone, however.

Demons of the forest lurked within the canopy above them, peppering stones and arrows into the advancing ranks, causing gaps and pile ups with chattering glee. Zoras stood ready, their fins barred to the enemy, even though their skin was cracked and flaky from the ash, which had dried up their skin secretions into a gummy glue.

Gorons waited patiently, weapons in hand, for the enemy to close. The gerudo without mounts had joined the defenders upon the wall, while their cavalry tiredly sounded a charge, and splint into six separate horns, to harass and whittle away at the decimated horde. The sheikah specters that remained melted into the shadows beneath the trees, in preparation for the attack…

The rebels were outnumbered four to one. They were tired, while the enemy was fresh… but the rebels had the superior position, and discipline.

Many would die… but hopefully, not before Ganon.

"Time is short," Sheik observed, and five shapes detached from the battle lines, to begin the long climb to the castle…

((()))

Nabooru could not understand. Why had her people done this? It was folly, to challenge Ganondorf… besides, the wickedness of turning against the man who had fought hardest for their survival, against the uncaring tribes of the green lands… the man that had brought them to greatness? To strength they had never known?

Why? Why had the tribes done this terrible thing? Ganondorf was harsh, but fair, she believed. Enemies were dealt with swiftly, and allies protected. Was that not all that a mighty ruler should be? Now the tribes had broken themselves upon the rock…

_And what of friendship? Love, pity, mercy?_ Nabooru ignored the traitorous thought… but her gaze was drawn, inexorably, to the crumpled figure at the foot of the dais. Even unconscious, the princess seemed unbeaten. She had lost _this_ time, but Nabooru knew the girl would never stop, would never yield. Ganondorf might be a mighty sandstorm, but here… here was one who bent, but could not break. Even as her father raged, for all his power, he could not bend this girl to his will. Her… friend.

((()))

Princess Zelda stirred, as familiar hands held her, and the soft tingle of Spirit magic knit her broken bones and bruised muscles… but she _hurt_.

"Do not move. I have not finished repairing the fracture to your skull," Narosha said quietly. _Most likely from the tumble down the stone steps_, Zelda thought distantly. Her senses felt strangely empty, however.

"Where, where is Ganon?" Zelda hissed, between her broken teeth.

"Gone, to confront your champions. One of them carries the Sword of Legend. It broke the gates to the castle, despite my father's power," Narosha whispered.

"None may bar the Lady's passage," Zelda said woozily.

"He has gone to kill them. Your friends… they will not survive," Narosha said tightly.

Zelda gasped, when the floating rib that had lodged in her guts slipped back into place. The last bone to mend was her left femur, which untwisted itself, and knitted back into a single piece.

Princess Zelda rose, and spat the blood from her mouth, her teeth whole once more, though strangely tender. Her time was _now_.

"Paxton!" Zelda called.

A spindly form shuffled out from behind the throne.

"Summon the guard. We have work to do," Zelda hissed, and Narosha drew back from her, as the princess's blonde tresses whipped in a gale that did not exist within _this_ world. Within her eyes, another also stood, supporting her champion… and a golden triangle began to glow within Zelda's hand, the light shining through the flesh that concealed it.

((()))

"He's here!" Navi screamed, clinging to Link's earlobe. So much _evil_… it was suffocating her, trying to smother her. Darunia roared, able to see the perversion, not with his eyes, but with his new powers as a Sage. He bore down on the black vortex, and swung Megaton with all the force he could muster. It would most likely collapse the castle upon them, the Goron thought grimly.

Link charged behind his friend, ready to strike after the stunning blow.

Ganon raised his palm, which had begun to glow, and the hammer slapped down squarely upon it… and nothing happened. It stopped, cold, instantly. No momentum, _nothing_.

"An amusing toy… fit for children such as you," the pseudo-god sneered. Darunia tried to think of something witty and scathing to say… but nothing came to mind, so he simply kicked out, catching Ganon in his armor belly, and sent the dark lord through the wall of the corridor in a startled sprawl of armored limbs and flapping cloak. When in doubt stick to the basics. Darunia doubted he'd actually done any real damage… and he hadn't been able to see Ganon's expression… glumly, the goron began to blindly climb through the hole. Link shook his head, and followed, the other three sages at his back.

((()))

Mido glanced over his shoulder, as the castle on the plateau behind them shook. He had no doubt his mate was giving Ganon hell… and for a moment, he pitied the fool. Saria was a carefree, and mischievous soul… usually. The few times she was angered… well… Mido tried to forget the particulars of those instances. It helped him keep his sanity… and boyish charms. The kokiri side stepped the moblin spear, which plunged into the ground he'd been standing on moments before. With ease, the child-sized killer ran up the shaft, and delicately removed the moblin's eyes, before using his screaming perch to vault back into the branches above. On the bright side, there was only about fifteen-thousand monsters left to kill. At their current rate, they should be done by morning, Mido concluded optimistically, sending an arrow to lodge in a lizafoe's eye.

((()))

"Hah!" Darunia roared, ducking beneath the magic attack. _Missed!_ The column behind Darunia crumbled, and dropped half a ton of masonry on the smug goron.

Saria's eyes were glowing green, and she was throwing seeds, which would erupt into fully formed miniature deku babas the size of roses, as soon as they touched Ganon's armor, and sink teeth into armor and flesh alike, to Ganon's irritation. Ruto diverted water from the nearby fountain, coating herself in a shifting layer of armor, that stopped two of Ganon's glancing blows… mostly.

Sheik drew shadows into strings and spikes, hampering her foe's movements. If that had been all, Ganon would have already dealt with them… but the majority of his attention was focused upon the true threat. The Lady, and the wielder of the Triforce of Courage. He could not use his magic in direct attack, for the wielder wore strange gauntlets, which absorbed the strikes, and let the man attack Ganon with his own power… so they instead dueled blade against knife and fists.

Link managed to cut Ganon's left hand, leaving a line of burning white… but no blood. Distracted, Darunia was able to land a hit with the Megaton on Ganon's armored back, sending the dark lord flying with the startling suddenness of a shaft from a bow.

"Shit… where'd he land? He's too far away to see, can anyone see him?" Darunia grumbled in frustration. Ganon climbed out of the hole in the wall, the lower half of his cape ripped almost completely off, the flap hanging by a few inches of threads. He flicked a ball of magic the size of Darunia's head at Saria, and Link roared, channeling some of the left over magic in the gauntlets as speed. He intercepted the ball, and barely managed to bat it back with the tip of the Master sword. It crashed into Ganon, and this time, the Dark Lord did scream, as he enlarged the hole, and disappeared from sight again.

"Come on," Ruto sighed, her armor leaving little puddles behind her footsteps.

She was tired.

((()))

Nabooru watched Princess Zelda leave the throne room, followed by the undead retainers, vassals, and guards that had served her father in life… but now served her in death. As they walked, the ReDeads seemed to straighten, their limbs stronger, their dull eyes brighter. Nabooru walked to one of the great glass windows, and watched her father fighting in the dead gardens below. He could not be beaten, he did not need her aid… and the mystery of her kin nagged at her. _What reason… why defy Ganondorf?_

((()))

"There looks to be fewer of them, I reckon," Talon grunted, trying to wrestle his axe out of a moblin's skull, puffing and panting.

"On account of my shoot'n more than your chopp'n," Malon teased, loosing another arrow to find a fleshy quiver.

"So, I've been think'n," Talon said reluctantly, as his axe came free.

"That's never a good sign," Malon grumbled, shifting positions on the thorny wall to hit a lurking lizafoe. Her arrows were useless as shit against the stalfoes. Those she left to the gerudo, and Gorons… but the living enemies dotted in the sea of undead were proving an interesting challenge.

"And, if this demon'a yours _does_ save the kingdom an all… I _suppose_ I could'a been just a _little _hasty in my earlier judgement… that he weren't no good at all," Talon said. It sounded like he was gargling glass… but it was also the closest Malon had ever heard her father come to apologizing.

"You know he proposed, right?" Malon said.

"He _what?!_" Talon's startled swing nearly cut a charging Stalfos in half, from crotch to crown.

Malon casually shook Link's bracelet free. "Well it was seven years ago," Malon amended. Link had explained it to her last night, while he massaged the aches away. She still wasn't certain that she wanted to get _married _right away. True, her mother hadn't been much older than her… but her mother had never quite recovered from the birth… and was sickly, until she died shortly after Malon's sixth birthday.

"I'm gonna kill him. Hero or no," Talon snarled, destroying three stalfos in a savage flurry of strikes. "_Mah lettle gillie,"_ Talon mumbled into his bushy moustache.

_He'll get over it. Eventually_, Malon thought snidely, sniping an elusive bokoblin from its hiding place behind two stalfoes carrying tower shields.

Certainly though, she had no issues with Link. She'd make him sweat a little, the girl decided, with a slightly nasty smirk. After all, he'd made her wait seven years. Magical slumber or not… she owed him at least a _little _grief. She wasn't sure what to make for him though. She was thinking along the lines of a leather bracelet, or perhaps an earring, or some such. She glanced at the pretty bracelet with a flash of annoyance. It would be hard to make something as pretty… especially since her talents lent themselves more to killing at extreme range while riding half-tamed animals. She wasn't an artisan. Well… not really… Malon considered the lessons the Gerudo had beaten into her, on tattooing… and her eyes brightened. Two birds, one stone. She started humming her mother's lullaby happily, kill two more moblins, trying to remember everything involved, and everything she would need…

((()))

"You cannot defeat me," Ganon sneered, ripping off the tattered remnants of his cape in irritation. Link raised the Master sword into a high guard calmly. The four sages panted nearby, trying to catch their breath, "You have only four sages. One sage fights for me, and the last… the last is a coward, who hides from my sight," Ganon sneered.

"You forget, King of Nothing, that you possess only a third of the Triforce," a voice said coldly. Ganon looked up, and felt his blood quicken, as the Hero of Wisdom emerged… trailing his meat puppets.

"You think my pets will harm me?" Ganon laughed, "begone," he ordered.

The rotting constructs remained motionless, watching him, some even clutched spears and swords.

One of the men, in a strangely clean jacket slowly straightened, and painfully drew a thin rapier, which it pointed to the sky.

_"For the Queen,"_ it croaked, startling Ganon. ReDeads could only moan. They lacked the intelligence to speak.

_What had she done?_

Long dead limbs remembered the strength of the living, the pounding of blood… and their hatred for Ganon.

With a throat-less roar, the small army charged at Ganon, and the Dark Lord fumed. One delay after another… Ganon was impatient to finish this charade, and reclaim the Triforce. He grabbed the first ReDead, and pulled it apart with a flick of his wrists. Something sharp skated along his elbow, drawing blood.

"No, Hero," Zelda said, staying Link, "Let them have their reward," she said gently. Ganon roared in outrage, as he smacked aside, and crushed the ReDeads.

"They are being destroyed," Ruto protested, "We must aid them."

"No. Their deepest wish is being granted. I will not allow anyone to continue their torment," Zelda said firmly. The last to fall was Paxton, a triumphant smirk on his face, even as his head flew from his body, to land among the twisted remains of long dead rose bushes.

"The Ocarina of Time. I have need of it… as well as your bow," Zelda said.

Link pulled the bamboo bow off his back, and handed it, as well as the string to Zelda. He moved for his quiver as well, but she shook her head, "I have no need of your arrows." She strung the heavy bow easily, tying her hair back with a strip of cloth from her gown.

"Shall we begin?" Zelda enquired politely, raising her bow.

((()))

There was an explosion of magic, and a figure stepped out of a swirling sand storm. She carried a pair of scimitars, and much of her skin was exposed… although every inch of visible flesh crawled with magical runes and wards. With a flicker of a thought, she commanded the horde to draw back, and an uneasy silence descended in the narrow strip of land that separated the two armies.

The gerudo woman spoke, in the desert tongue, her words magically amplified.

"_Children of the desert… why have you come, in rebellion of the great Ganondorf, my father?" _

Many voices shouted out, different voices, different words, so that all was a jumble. Nabooru recognized one of the women though.

"Setsu, of Clan Hirosh. You are no traitor. Tell me, why have you come?" Nabooru demanded.

The iron knuckle left the wall of thorns, her bulky armor clanking with every deliberate step the powerful warrior took. Setsu bowed low, "Lady Nabooru… we come to avenge ourselves upon the great deceiver, Ganondorf," Setsu said.

"Deceiver?" Nabooru asked, confused.

"The Heartlands bloom once more, the rains have come… and life returns to our people," Setsu said proudly.

"Then my father has kept his promise. We are restored," Nabooru said, nonplussed.

"Your father did not bring the rains. Nolamar's slave slew Koume… and the life of the land that kept her alive was returned to us. I suspect, with Kitake's death, our land has been fully returned to its natural health," the iron knuckle explained grimly.

The great Nabooru sat down in the ashes of a broken city, as her world tilted on its ear.

_Father did not save us… _the war that had seemed so necessary to their very survival… so many deaths… and the screams of the dying Sheikah from Zelda's memory ghosted through the young Sage's mind. Nabooru saw the many twisted remains of horses and blackened women that lay around her. Slain by her father. No. Not slain.

_Murdered_.

A terrible thing woke beneath Nabooru's breast, a dark thing, that hurt her, that tore at her love, ripping it away like an unwanted weed, from the poison it clung to.

The castle rumbled softly from the magical battle within, and Nabooru's hard gaze fell upon the unseen monster within. With a howl, Nabooru reached out, and absorbed the spirits of the living and undead that paid liege to the Deceiver. All around her, bones and corpses collapsed to the ashes, and Nabooru stepped within the cyclone of sand. She had unfinished business to conclude.

((()))

Rauru, sage of Light, opened his eyes. At long last… the sixth had awoken to her destiny… and the time of the _seventh_ sage was at hand. With a grateful sigh, the Sage left his temple within the golden lands, and raced along the paths of power, to where he would be needed.

((()))

Zelda drew back her bow, and an arrow of pure light seemed to stretch into being, from nothingness on her string. Ganon eyed the bolt warily. She fired, and his enchanted dagger rose up to block the projectile. The arrow passed through, as if the knife were not even there, and slammed into Ganon's heart, seeping into him like a poison, his flesh aflame with agony. He threw a fraction of his power at the Hero of Wisdom, but the Hero of Courage stepped in front, and knocked his attack awry, as the Hero of Wisdom drew back her string once more.

To any with the second sight, the three figures were eclipsed by the creatures bound to the mortal vessels. Two were bound with gossamer strings, binding the God and its vessel together as one, in harmony.

The Hero of Courage was both a man, and a Green haired Goddess of secrets held in trust, creator of all living creatures.

The Hero of Wisdom was a woman, and a blue haired Goddess, responsible for the Flow of Time, and creator of law, so that all creatures would be protected.

Finally, the last was a man, but gossamer threads did not bind him to his Goddess… rather, cold, black chains enslaved the final creature… a flaming haired Goddess, creator of the physical world, cultivator of the earth… and responsible for the passage of the Seasons.

Only Madam Malka saw this, for an instant, before her second sight was destroyed. Some things were never meant to be seen by mortals.

The arrow of light had hurt… but it wouldn't kill him, for Ganon was a _god_. Even the Lady could not deal him lasting harm, for all her power, for he was the avatar of Din, strongest of the three Goddesses, the God of _Power_. He could not be overwhelmed, by any force of this world. Another figure burst into existence with a flash of light, a man of flowing orange robes, and pale countenance. The golden medallion on his belt clearly marked him as the Sage of Light.

"Very well… Five sages… but the sixth is mine," Ganon growled, shrugging off another excruciating arrow from the Hero of Wisdom.

"Wrong, Deceiver. The sixth stands with us," the Sage of Light said, pointing to a figure that erupted out of the ground in a swirl of sand and fury.

"Very well. Five or six, it matters not!" Ganon roared. The Hero of Wisdom tossed her bow aside, and drew a small blue instrument from her waist.

"At long last, the moment is nigh," the Hero of Wisdom said, "For the seventh sage to awaken. The Sage of Time."

((()))

The Sage of Time opened her eyes, and felt her power come to her. Prophesy was a parlor trick. To _control_ the flow of time… "_Key kept in trust, immune to rust_," Zelda whispered, clutching the Ocarina of Time, as she used it to call out to its lock, and channeled that power, but it was not directed at Gannon… no.

"_Power of silver, in darkest night, long since lost, found by true light," _Zelda whispered… and the mirrored gauntlets upon Link's arms exploded, coiling like quicksilver before the Sage of Time, as the ancient binding was undone… and something began to form, though it seemed as if the ashes from the ground had infiltrated it… for the reflective substance was turning black, except were lines of silver crawled across it… and the _**Mirror of Twilight**_ was remade. The weapon created by Din, Farore, and Nayru to combat the Interlopers…

Ganon stared at the strange mirror. He had no knowledge of it, and that frightened him. He threw a blast of magic powerful enough to topple a mountain at the mirror… and the energy disappeared into the depths of the mirror without a ripple. The Sages though… they had circled him, and a rainbow of colors burst from their medallions, shining into the mirror. The silver etchings and markings began to expand, and peel themselves from the surface of the mirror… spinning with hunger.

Ganon dug into the ground beneath him, howling, as he pitted his power against the mirror… and lost… for nothing can fight against itself, and the Power of Din had partially created the mirror.

The black mirror grew brighter, as if sucking out all darkness, rather than emitting light… and the Dark Lord disappeared into the depths of the mirror, one last curse echoing in the air…

So ended the Seven Years of Darkness.


	16. Chapter 16: Epilogue

**Year 3 (Post Seven Years of Darkness)**

Link scratched at his hair idly, contemplating the house. He held up his thumb, and checked the corners of the stone cottage… as far as he could tell…

"It's still crooked," Navi sighed, sitting on his shoulder.

"Well… _damn_…" Link grumbled, wiping the sweat off his shoulders with his tunic, before tossing it back on the barrel.

"We could always ask Darunia for help…" Navi suggested.

"Sure. Ask a blind goron for help. He'll _never_ let you live it down," Malon laughed, careful of her growing bulge.

"If I can't get it right in three days… I'll ask," Link said reluctantly. He should have been framing the roof already… but the slope of the land just outside the Lost Woods was treacherous for building… Even though Saria had convinced all the saplings to uproot, and plant elsewhere, leaving a small meadow around the house in progress.

"Fili!" Malon said sharply, and the wolfos pup quickly dropped the bundle of rawhide guiltily.

"I _told_ you not to play with that," Malon grumbled, hiking over to rescue the slobbery bundle. Milna watched patiently from the shade of the trees, panting a little. Malon's wasn't the _only_ pregnancy. The scarred wolfos flicked an irritated ear at her only surviving pup. Epona ignored _all_ of the foolishness, continuing to graze quietly nearby.

Malon joined Milna in the shade, feeling a little flushed. It was only her fourth month… she watched her husband continue to fight with the stones, trying to reinforce the sagging corner with additional cross-braces… but he might have been the Hero of Courage… but that didn't make him a mason. Every so often, Link would turn, and the azure and gold starburst tattoo around his left eye would catch the light, sending a little flicker of pride through Malon. It had taken her a whole _week_ to get it right.

And Link had sat through the entire process patiently. Navi's healing abilities had greatly sped up the laborious process of applying the two tone pattern to Link's flesh. Most importantly, he was _hers_.

Talon had quarreled endlessly with Link, about the location of the house. _He_ wanted to add onto the ranchhouse, of Lon Lon Ranch. Most likely, to keep an eye on his daughter… and new in-law.

Malon had promptly declined, and a knock-down, drag-out brawl had commenced between father and daughter. Link wisely decided to check on Epona. Malon could fight her own battles, after all. In the end, Link brought her _home_.

"So… boy or girl?" a boy wondered.

"Shut up, _she'll hear_," a girl hissed.

"Ian and Natalie…" Malon growled.

"Yes Miss Malon?" the kokiri chimed, in a sing-song.

"What have I told you about lurking?" Malon asked calmly.

"That you'd pin our ears back if you caught us doing it again," Ian said promptly.

"So… shouldn't you be running?" Malon asked.

"You're slow now, and your bow's half-way across the meadow," Ian said confidentially.

"Si'ka?" Malon called.

A golden eyed kokiri girl erupted from her hiding place, tackling Ian and Natalie, carrying both immortal children to the ground in a tangle of legs and tails.

"Si'ka!" Ian yelped, scrambling to escape.

The former Gerudo giggled to Malon, in the desert tongue, "They're only half as stealthy as they think they are."

"Now, just hold them for a minute," Malon replied, in the desert tongue. She was headed for the rain barrel.

Ian's face paled behind his mask. He _hated_ getting wet.

Malon watched the two dripping kokiri scamper off, cursing vehemently in their native tongue. Si'ka watched them, amused, fists planted on her hips. Of all the kokiri, only Si'ka did not wear a mask. Instead, she had a scrap of woven bark-cloth across her lower face, like a Gerudo warrior's sand veil.

"So… have you decided yet?" Malon asked, looking at Si'ka. The former gerudo shrugged, "Seth is... good fighter, he makes me laugh… but it is strange, to be the one pursued. I do not like it," Si'ka said, shrugging again.

"So go after him, run him down," Malon suggested.

"He wouldn't run. He _wants_ me to catch him," Si'ka grumbled.

"Link wanted me to catch him," Malon pointed out. The girl shrugged, again, undecided. Si'ka glanced at the faerie on her shoulder. Vinn was young, for a faerie, only five hundred years old, and looked like a little red man… at the moment, he was whispering earnestly in his charge's ear, no doubt a plot, or scheme involving Seth, the Skull kid.

"Or… think of it like hunting… but with lures, instead of running the prey down. _You_ choose when to bring the prey to you… and take him," Link suggested, taking a break beneath the shade.

Si'ka was still wary of the former kokiri that had shot her three years ago… but at least she no longer left upon his approach. Everyone looked up, as someone large pushed through the ferns, into the clearing.

"Has Ian been here yet?" Burt asked.

Malon grinned wickedly, "I gave him a bath. He fled in… that direction, I believe," the fiery haired woman chuckled.

The giant peasant sighed, and continued deeper into the fledgling woods, calling out Ian's name.

((()))

Impa kept an eye on Princess Anna. The toddler was patiently planning her escape from the crib, assessing the obstacles in her way. Queen Zelda was currently meeting with the corps of royal engineers. Most of them were gorons… rebuilding Castle Town had become one of the primary goals of the Queen, second only to the harvest rotation program, to ensure none of her subjects starved in the lean years, before the blighted fields could be successfully resown, since there was such a shortage of seedage. Nearly fifty-percent of the first year's foodstuffs had consisted of deku seeds, from the kokiri.

That the plants involved had a taste for red meat dampened the enthusiasm of the farmers… as well as the blandness of the seeds.

Still, few had died from starvation.

"No, no, _no!_" Link bellowed, pounding a stony fist into his palm, making a sound not unlike a thunderclap, "we build the retaining pool _after _the aquifer!"

"But we won't know how much duct to build, without knowing the size of the pool," King Rulias said calmly from where he lounged in the palace fountain. Sadly, Ruto's father had never recovered from his illness, and had died less than three months after the war's conclusion… passing the crown to Ruto, and by extension, Rulias.

As soon as possible, Zelda wished to have _people_ living in the shadow of the castle. Idly, Zelda wondered how Nabooru was doing, as she led her people from the Gerudo Fortress. True, nearly twenty percent of the Gerudo now called Hyrule home, and had integrated _somewhat_ with the customs of the Hylians. At least there hadn't been any more _man_ raids on weddings… not since the second year. The Mirror of Twilight now rested deep within the Gerudo Fortress, returned to its guardian, the Desert Colossus… and locked within its depths Ganondorf would remain.

Zelda smiled, glancing at her daughter softly. The King of Nothing had used his last moment of freedom, to curse her and all her blood-line… but that curse slid harmlessly off her daughter… immune to her _father_'s magic. Princess Anna had the fine golden hair, and pale complexion that was the hallmark of the royal family… but her eyes were not blue sapphires.

Instead, they were flawless yellow topazes. Beauty was everywhere, and in everything… and even the child of such cruel evil acts, could grow to fight it… because, although she was the _child _of Ganon, she was _more importantly_, the _daughter _of _Zelda_… and eventually, when the time came, Anna would wield the Triforce of Wisdom.

Ser Donovan entered the palace gardens, and ably sidestepped the increasingly vocal argument, as he approached Zelda with a rolled missive in his good hand.

Now… all she had to do was give Ser Donovan the nudge he needed… Zelda mused, glancing thoughtfully at Impa. The Sheikah woman watched the knight out of the corner of her eye… and the knight missed the gleam within their pink depths.

"Ser Donovan… I have a task for you, and Impa…" Zelda began. Impa smiled behind her mask, bemused, as the girl she'd nursemaided attempted to play matchmaker.

((()))

"I _told_ you the child would be Sheikah," Lito said patiently. Sejuno glared at the shadow demon.

"You no _listen_," Sejuno snarled, still… _emotional_, from the recent delivery.

"I say child be _girl_, no say she be _gerudo_," the woman panted, her third daughter already suckling. So far, the children had all possessed the pale skin and hair of the Sheikah, as well as pink eyes… _and all had been female_. Just because shadow-demons always bred true, didn't mean superior blood couldn't get a word in edgeways, Sejuno thought smugly, eyeing her man. It looked as if he were considering putting another daughter in her belly… when Tris suddenly burst out of mid air, with a wail. Lito lunged, neatly fielding his firstborn.

"Teleporting… _again_…" Lito sighed. Even _he_ hadn't been this bad… although Impa would likely disagree. He didn't start teleporting until he was _seven_. And by the smell of things, she'd been in the Royal kitchens _again_.

((()))

Sheik stood on the ramparts of the rebuilt castle, gazing out across the land, now blanketed by night. She had never felt so powerful… and never so _alone_. The other Sheikah… they had adjusted to peace as readily as they had to war. Lito had wasted little time in his efforts to rebuild their tribe… and he seemed content with the desert woman. Aris had taken one of the Hylian soldiers, a man blinded by the Keese… and had given him the gift of True sight. Sheik knew little about the man, beyond the fact that he made Aris _smile_.

And now, _Impa_ had found someone to love as well. Ser Donovan, of all people… although it was hardly a surprise, Sheik allowed. The two had worked together and fought together closely for nearly fifteen years… and Donovan _was_ of the ancient blood-line… although children of their union would likely be like Link, and not true Sheikah.

In the end… Sheik had lived so long in war, and so little in peace… she didn't know how to go back. She didn't know how to let someone in. The Shadow Sage's eyes flashed angrily… she didn't know how… but that didn't mean she would remain content to stand at the window. She _would_ find a way, to take that forbidden warmth for herself. She was a Sheikah… and in the end, even death could not stop her over long.

_I will find what I seek_.

((()))

"You're sure?" Mido asked, apprehensively.

Saria rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm sure, I'm the one who made him."

Mido continued to stare at the bulge that should not have existed.

"And you're saying… I made him too?" Mido clarified.

"Well… with some help from me," Saria shrugged.

Saria sighed. This would take some time. She was the Sage of the Forest… and the Forest was _life_. This was not so different from nurturing a seed into a flower… and had actually not been overly difficult either.

"He's not going to look like a tree… will he?" Mido asked. That earned him a smack on the ear… which led to all sorts of interesting things.

((()))

Deep within the Mirror of Twilight, a shadow stirred. Fools. They did not know what they had done… this was no prison… it was a _sanctuary_… albeit one without a door…

But Ganon felt others, that might be of use… should he find a way to escape this abysmal place of twilight.

((()))

_And so the land of Hyrule took a breath, and began the slow process of rebuilding. Such was life. There was peace, for now, but it would not last, nor should it. Too much peace led to stagnation. Too much war led to extinction. In all things, there must be balance. There would be other monsters, other wars. There would be other heroes, other villains… in_ _the cycle_. _So long as there were those with the courage to do what was necessary, those with wisdom to guide and protect the masses, and those with a thirst for power… then life could continue. _

_And that was how it should be…_

_And the Lady slumbered within the Temple of Time, waiting for the next hand that might wield her. _

_For there would be another…_

_There was __**always**__ another._


End file.
